Collapsing
by smileaway96
Summary: A cave: it's a strong structure. With lots of time, it can become an extraordinary wonder of nature. But how much effort does it take to tear it apart, allowing the structure to fall apart completely? It's only a matter of time before three close friends find out how much of an impact one mission can have on their strong ties and what the cost of restoring them is. Review, please!
1. Stumbling

**A/N: Woo, I'm excited to get this one started! :) Just a few quick warnings: Updates might take longer, especially since it's the end of the year . . . things tend to get a bit crazy. Also, the chapters are a tad longer than I usually make them. Uh . . . yeah. That's about it. Thanks, all, for the support! **

* * *

Rouge lay exhausted on a sofa in the main lobby of G.U.N. HQ. Her previous mission had been long and tedious, and it did quite a number on her mind. As of now, she was waiting for her teammates to return from their private conference with the chief. Or maybe it was a recap of the mission. Whatever it was, Rouge hadn't been invited to it. Not that she was bitter about it, or anything.

Sleeping seemed like the most heavenly thing as Rouge's eyes started to droop slowly. She gazed at the pattern of the back of the couch, her eyes creating illusions and changing the colors of the odd design of the upholstery. Closing her eyes, the bat yawned and tucked her arms under the pillow on the sofa, hoping to get comfy while her teammates were gone.

For a split second, Rouge saw something in her half-asleep state—a quick dream. There was Knuckles, sitting across from her on a park bench. His face went from smiling and cool, to horrified; his eyes wide with shock. Rouge's dream self turned and looked beneath her feet as the grass crumbled and the ground split open under her. She had one last glance of the echidna before she felt herself slipping into an abyss.

"Geez."

Rouge gasped as her eyes flew open and she jolted awake. She rolled over with a slight groan to face the source of the sarcastic voice. Shadow towered over her, along with Omega, both staring down at the groggy bat. The hedgehog had his arms crossed-typical.

"Good morning," he said drily, "I take it you slept . . . relatively comfortably?"

"Perhaps we should not have woken her up," Omega acknowledged, "we must have frightened her awake."

Rouge began to slowly sit up and stretched out her wings and arms.

"Nah, it's fine. I'll just go back home where I can sleep in a nice bed. This couch is giving me weird dreams," she said after fluffing out her hair and checking it in a window. Shadow stepped next to her and looked out the window as well, followed by Omega. The hedgehog raised his eyes to the sky, which was beginning to grow dark.

"Thank Mobius that mission is finally over," he muttered, "I thought it'd never end."

"You're telling me," Rouge agreed, "What a nightmare."

"Tracking down those heinous criminals was quite the exhausting endeavor," Omega droned, his own voice box sounding beaten up and weary, "It was tedious in every way."

"I certainly hope we don't have another mission for a long time," Rouge remarked as she looked out at the sunset, "Well, I'm all clocked out. I'm getting outta here, and don't expect me to be back for the rest of the weekend."

Shadow arched an eyebrow, skeptical.

"Get into trouble in that time frame, and you might end up back here for an interrogation—for questioning."

"Ahh," Rouge waved off the hedgehog's warning, "I'll be fine. I don't have any big plans for the weekend anyway."

"A likely story," the hedgehog scoffed.

"All right, maybe some, but I'm too tired to try anything . . . bad. Honest."

Shadow didn't respond. For once, he really couldn't argue with Rouge's exhaustion, considering he was pretty tired himself, though he'd begun to recover promptly after the mission. After a quick goodbye, Rouge headed out the door and went right across the street to meet up with Knuckles, and then they walked down the street and out of sight from the window.

Shadow turned to his robotic colleague after hearing strange clanking sounds coming from the robot's interior. Concerned, the hedgehog opened up the panel on the back and felt the electrical board between the wiring and buttons. It was hot to the touch, even through his white gloves.

"Crap, you're overheating again," he muttered. He wasn't surprised; Omega had been processing a lot of data over the past week from the mission. Shadow shut Omega down completely in order to let him charge enough to boot him back up again. He pulled the robot into the next room, the HQ lounge, where the night employees were enjoying cups of coffee and chatting away. They gave the laboring hedgehog side-glances and some even began to chuckle, amused by Shadow's efforts. The hedgehog curled his lip in what seemed to be a mix of determination and contempt. The scientists and agents continued to stare and silently tease the hedgehog, all knowing too well that he wasn't to be messed with.

Shadow breathed a sigh of relief as he gave the "sleeping" Omega a final shove into a roomy corner. He slid down to the floor and frowned, knowing perfectly well that the employees were all staring at him, even as his eyes were closed. With a flick of his wrist, Shadow produced a small Chaos flame in his hand, quietly making a false threat. He opened his eyes to gaze at it and then turned towards the others.

"As you were, ladies and gentlemen."

The employees, mostly unfazed by the Chaos flame, returned to their conversations as if nothing had happened. Once he had extinguished the flame, Shadow's eyes traveled up to the robot's blackened eyes, hoping that he wouldn't set the place on fire from an overheating episode. He grimly decided that it would be best if he stayed with the robot through the night to make sure that didn't happen. A full half-hour passed, allowing Shadow to partake in the engaging activity of people-watching as they popped in and out of the lounge, some longer than others. Many of them accepted Shadow's presence without hesitation, others would glimpse over at him, some even turning their glances to a scowl. Shadow let it be, though. He was in no mood to deal with ignorant people.

"Shadow!"

Shadow glared at the doorway, expecting someone to force him out of the room, and he was too tired already to drag Omega out again. Instead of an annoyed security guard, Shadow recognized a cheerful blond-haired scientist by the name "Griffith" that he was particularly familiar with. Griffith was one of the only scientists that got along the best with Team Dark, and he often carried on enjoyable conversations with them.

"Hey, Griff," Shadow replied quietly, "are you doing anything tonight, by any chance?"

"Actually, no," Griffith answered, pouring himself a mug of coffee and opening a packet of sugar, "why do you ask?"

"We've just returned from a fairly grueling mission, and I've developed a slight headache from it. I'm going to take a walk in the dark to see if I can clear my head. Would you mind watching Omega until I come back? He's been overheating, and I don't want any accidents."

"No problem, Shadow," Griffith said kindly, "I'll take care of him."

"Thank you," Shadow said. The scientist poured another cup of coffee and offered it to the hedgehog before he walked out.

"Would you like a cup, Shadow?" he asked with a smile, "something to keep you warm. It's a little chilly out there tonight."

Shadow pondered the offer. Although he wasn't too fond of coffee, there was no declining an offer from Griffith. He mumbled his thanks after accepting the small cup, and walked into the front foyer and out into the dark streets.

* * *

Shadow reached a small park that was lined with yellow streetlights. The hedgehog found his way in the dark to a bench that rested in between two large trees. He cautiously sat down, hoping that it wasn't covered with rainwater or something sticky; fortunately, it was only a little cold. Shadow took a small sip of his coffee and smacked his lips together, re-familiarizing himself with the taste, considering he hadn't had coffee in a long time. The warm drink traveled down his throat and he could feel the heat pleasantly spreading through his entire body. The hedgehog sighed and relaxed, putting his head back and looking up into the partially cloudy night sky. There hadn't been any recent moments when he could enjoy the sight of countless stars dotting the sky, accompanied by the crescent moon hovering motionless in the eternal blackboard.

Of course, it was different from the surface. The moon was so small compared to when he was in space on the ARK. Shadow could barely look at the sky without being reminded of those days sixty-some years ago. Though he couldn't remember much, he still saw Maria's figure against the glass with the starry backdrop. Within a few moments of thought, the hedgehog's eyelids began to fall with fatigue. As he nodded off, Shadow jolted awake, alarmed. He didn't fall asleep easily; the previous mission had been just that taxing on his nerves and mind to cause lethargy in him. He quickly took another swig of the coffee, which was rapidly beginning to cool down in the chilly night. Shadow licked his lips and checked his G.U.N watch. It had only been about twenty minutes since he'd left HQ, and, even though he trusted Griffith, the hedgehog developed a nagging concern for his metal accomplice.

_Perhaps I should return . . . _he mused. _Omega is a fragile one._

Shadow stood up and plucked the relatively full cup of coffee from its place on the bench. He went to have another sip and then located the nearest trash can. He effortlessly tossed the cup into the open garbage can, making it in. As he began to walk steadily back to HQ, a figure zoomed in front of him and then halted. Shadow wasted no time to fire a Chaos Spear at the figure, who jumped in a whirl about twenty feet into the air to dodge it. Once he landed, Shadow immediately recognized him and let the Chaos Energy in his hands die down.

"Take it easy, Shads, I'm only stopping to say hi!" Sonic the hedgehog said cheerfully. "How ya been, with the G.U.N mission and all?"

"It was absolutely exhausting," Shadow retorted sharply, "I'm not in the mood to deal with you tonight, faker."

"Not even to prove that you're faster than me?" Sonic challenged, rocking back and forth on his heels, "C'mon, how does a little night sprint sound? You and me, right now!"

"Not now," Shadow growled, pushing the eager hedgehog aside, "and I don't need to prove I'm better than you, remember?"

"Oh yeah, because _everyone_ already knows you are," Sonic drawled sarcastically.

"Indeed. Glad to see you've finally come to terms with it."

"_I_ haven't," the blue blur countered, "everyone else has. Come on, one little race? What do you have to lose?"

"My dignity," Shadow replied drily, "I'm not in the right condition, nor do I have enough time to engage in narrow-minded frivolities."

As Shadow attempted to make an escape, Sonic bolted past him.

"First one to G.U.N. HQ is the winner!" he yelled as he left. Shadow curled his lip and considered walking there just to spite the blue faker, but his overconfidence took over and he sprinted after his rival.

* * *

The two hedgehogs met in the heart of the city, ducking under tunnels and avoiding passing traffic with great agility. Shadow smoothly slid over the surface of the wide roads and kept his eye on Sonic, who began launching himself in a spin dash to jump over the cars and other miscellaneous objects. Shadow followed suit, jumping over cars and occasionally sliding under them in the age-old competition of proving who was best. Impressed yet particularly cocky, Sonic found his way to Shadow's side and turned to face him while running.

"I thought you said you weren't in the right condition to race me?" he shouted over the sound of roaring traffic and wind in his ears.

"I'm not," the black hedgehog shot back, "but I'm always well enough to confirm that I'm the Ultimate Life Form and therefore superior over a ridiculous thing like yourself."

"Riiiight." Sonic winked and took off forward. Shadow gritted his teeth in determination and darted after him. He chased him through a construction site, zigzagging around debris and the large construction vehicles. Next they passed through another city park, swinging around trees and knocking over the park benches; in short, wreaking a certain amount of havoc. Shadow lowered his head with a death glare in his eyes in attempt to catch up with Sonic. He approached the blue blur and intentionally bumped into him from the side, throwing off Sonic's running pattern ever so slightly.

"Hey!"

"Gotta jet," Shadow taunted, getting ahead of Sonic. Feeling pleased with himself, Shadow turned a sharp corner around a building and looked into the near distance where HQ was. He was winning, as he had smugly assumed prior to the race.

It was too soon to get cocky, but the dark hedgehog found that out the hard way. As he glanced over his shoulder, Shadow's jet shoes smashed into a curb and launched the unsuspecting hedgehog forward.

"No!" he uttered.

Shadow stuck out his hands to save himself from falling on his face, but instead his ankle had twisted on its side and he plunged sideways to the concrete ground, his head scraping against a street sign on the way down. Sonic flew past him, but in a short moment realized that his competitor was down. The blue blur screeched to a halt and went back to help his dazed rival.

"That was quite a fall you took, buddy," he said softly without any trace of boasting, "you all right?"

Shadow had his eyes shut, still processing his fall. Humiliated, he shakily stood up and shoved Sonic aside.

"I'm fine, you little rat," he grumbled, ashamed. "I told you I wasn't in the right condition to race."

"Well, then, you oughta be more careful," Sonic warned as he backed away, "and don't hurt yourself, got it?"

"Shut up," Shadow snapped, "I'm not hurt. Don't get preachy with me, or I'll get violent with you."

As Shadow half-limped back to HQ, Sonic chuckled and shook his head.

_Oh, Shads . . . what are we gonna do with you?_

With that final thought, Sonic sprinted in the opposite direction, looking for another nighttime adventure.


	2. Acceptance

**A/N: Hey, all! I think that I'll be updating weekly, depending on how my week goes. On Thursdays. That is all, thank you!**

* * *

Knuckles dropped off a drowsy Rouge at Club "Rouge", where she climbed down the stairs into the basement, where her bedroom was located. She quickly got dressed into a pink nightgown and flopped into bed. As the bat buried herself under the covers of her warm bed for the first time in weeks, there was a sound of the door opening.

"Ugh . . ." she groaned, hoping no one had wandered into her living space while in a drunken stupor. The bat pulled a robe over her nightgown and slid out of bed, parting with the covers again.

As she opened her bedroom door, Rouge gasped. There stood Shadow, his fist raised and ready to knock, and he was equally shocked as Rouge. Behind him was the massive and newly-recharged figure of Omega.

"Sorry to bother you, but-"

"Guest bedroom is open, although it might not be clean," Rouge answered shortly, already knowing that Shadow would ask if he could stay there for the night with Omega. Shadow nodded his thanks and bid the bat good night. Omega did the same and gently closed Rouge's bedroom door again.

Rouge listened to the shuffling of Shadow's feet and the pounding of Omega's feet hitting the ground. It was evident that the robot was trying to stay quiet, even though it was near impossible with him. Rouge half-smiled when she pictured the big metal figure attempting to tiptoe across a room, which was more or less what he was doing as he headed to bed. The bat climbed into bed again and adjusted her position so that her head rested comfortably on her pillow. Once she'd found the right position, Rouge immediately shut her eyes and meandered her way into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Her eyes flew open at the sound of a loud crash in the kitchen area of the basement. Rouge begrudgingly threw on her robe after oozing her way out of her bed and headed for the kitchen. Inside, there was Omega, staring helplessly at a pile of pots and pans. There was a moment of strange silence as Rouge raised her eyes to the robot's somehow crestfallen face.

"I apologize," he said shortly, without looking at the bat, "my intentions were to prepare a nourishing meal for you and Shadow."

Rouge peered over Omega's boxlike shoulder at a very messy counter, where there was a large amount of eggs(shells and yolks), crusted-on pancake mix, and bread crumbs everywhere. In the sink there were a few bowls, two frying pans, and a bent-up spatula. Rouge normally would have blown up, but the energy that she would have spent on getting angry was still being replenished after the last mission.

"You tried to make us breakfast?" she asked dubiously as she pulled a dish rag from a drawer.

"I'm merely looking to make sure you and Shadow maintain a healthy balanced diet so that you will increase your lifespan by approximately point-zero-zero-zero-seven-six-nine percent," Omega argued as he fumbled with a spray bottle, struggling to open it, "you both must remain healthy as you are now."

Rouge narrowed her eyes and continued to scrub a stubborn patch of dried-on pancake mix from the counter.

"Why are you so concerned about it, big guy?" she asked, cracking a grin at the robot's obvious embarrassment. "Besides, Shadow won't be going anywhere for a long time. I'm probably the one you should be worried about."

Omega was silent for a moment as he continued to press the nozzle of the spray bottle of cleaner. He managed to grasp it with his big and clumsy appendages, but the lemon-scented liquid refused to leave the bottle, save for a few little drops.

"You do not know that the Shadow creature is immortal for sure," the robot defended, staring at the measly droplets that had fallen.

"Oh, I think I do," Rouge countered with a yawn. She rinsed off the rag as Omega hung his head in what appeared to be shame. The bat couldn't resist a grin at the childish gesture. She dried her hands off on a towel and patted the robot's hard metal shoulder. "Hey, it's all right, big guy. It's not a big deal. One day we'll have someone teach you how to cook up some killer meals and we can all sit down and enjoy 'em. Okay?"

The robot's eyes lit up ever so slightly. Before he could reply, Shadow appeared in the doorway and took a long whiff of the air.

"What a way to wake up," he grumbled. "First an avalanche of kitchen items, then the combined smell of lemon-scented cleaner and burnt toast and eggs." The hedgehog sat himself down on a stool in front of the counter and folded his hands in front of him. "Now, what's for breakfast?"

Rouge set her hands on her hips and let a long and irritated breath escape from her nose.

"Knuckle sandwiches," she shot back, "prepared specially by Omega and I."

Shadow growled under his breath, demonstrating the fact that he didn't get enough sleep and was in no mood for smart remarks.

"All right, I suppose I can get it myself," he sighed in defeat as Rouge and Omega stood motionless, staring at the grumpy hedgehog. When he got up, Rouge noticed a slight limp in his walk.

"You didn't get into any rumbles last night, didja?" she asked.

"No," Shadow answered flatly, "This was an accident. But forget it; I'll be fine."

Rouge shrugged off the blunt answer and began to explain to Omega one of the most simple food-making methods—and that was how to pour milk and cereal into a bowl. After a few inelegant attempts, the robot was able to pour the milk into the bowl without spilling nearly the whole carton all over the table.

"There you go," Rouge praised as he filled up the bowl with the perfect amount of milk, "now just put the cereal box and milk away, and you're all set."

Omega carefully closed the milk carton and cardboard box and replaced them into their respective cabinets. Rouge took a spoonful of Omega's "meal" and gave him a thumbs-up. "You're well on your way, buddy," she said, chewing the cereal.

If a robot could smile, Omega would be beaming.

"It will be my duty to keep your diets in order," he said, "I shall protect you from bodily harm and disease with my skill."

"Of course," Rouge smirked. Shadow gulped down a mouthful of eggs with a quizzical look about him. Rouge shrugged and watched as Omega put the dishes into the small sink.

"I'm assuming you have plans for the day?" Shadow asked, getting up from the table. Rouge shook her head.

"Heck no. I'm staying right here," she said, "and I am dead serious. There's no way I'm leaving now."

"Well, then, I guess Omega and I could head out," Shadow said, "we'll let you have some time to yourself."

"How very generous of you two," Rouge replied without looking up from the sink, where she filled up a bowl with water and turned off the faucet. "You had better stay out of trouble, do you hear me?"

"You're telling us?" Shadow inquired with a straight face.

Rouge's eyes traveled to the ceiling.

"Yes. If I hear a single word regarding something involving one of you two, I will tie you both to chairs for the rest of the weekend."

"Ropes would not hold me," Omega stated innocently. The bat sighed heavily and leaned against the robot's metal body.

"You know very well what I mean."

"Fine. I will monitor the hedgehog's every move to be sure that he doesn't instigate a scene," Omega said, more innocence leaking into his monotonous voice. Shadow performed what was perhaps the most exaggerated eye-roll in all of Mobius' history.

Shadow and Omega stepped out, bidding Rouge a goodbye for the day. Rouge shut the door behind them and fell onto her couch, flipping on the TV.

A documentary about layers of rock in the ground came up. Rouge was only mildly interested because of the mention of precious stones by the man's sleepy-sounding voice, but after a few minutes, she had begun to nod off and fell right to sleep again.

* * *

It wasn't long before Rouge's sleep was interrupted by a loud buzzing sound.

"What the . . ." she groaned as she mindlessly swatted the air by her head, somehow assuming that there were bugs flying around. With a start, she woke to realize that the buzzing was her G.U.N. watch. In her most awake voice, she answered the call. "Hello, Agent Rouge presently speaking."

"Agent Rouge, we regret to say that there's been some suspicious activity in-"

"Not interested."

Rouge turned off the watch and carelessly tossed it on the coffee table. The TV still continued its march of programs, taunting Rouge with its endless possibilities. The bat fished for the remote in the couch, found it, and pressed the 'Power' button to halt the television's marathon. It was at that moment that her phone rang.

"This better be good," she mumbled, picking up the phone. "Hello?"

"Rouge, the agency just called you," said a familiar deep voice on the other end, "they want us at HQ in ten minutes."

"You're kidding me, right? Please tell me this is some kind of sick joke."

"Believe me, I am in no mood for jokes myself," replied the hedgehog on the other line, "they need all of us to come to a mandatory and urgent meeting at HQ."

"Do you understand how exhausted I am right now?" Rouge asked, her eyes filled with utter disbelief. "I'm barely caught up on my sleep!"

"I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do," the hedgehog responded through gritted teeth, "Don't kill the messenger. Are you coming, then?"

"Ugh . . ." Rouge sighed, exasperated. "Fine. Whatever. I suppose I'll be right over, then."

"Good. See you soon."

Defeated, the bat threw the phone onto the couch. It bounced up in a manner that was not nearly as satisfying as she had hoped. Rouge growled at nothing in particular and quietly began to curse the agency for forcing them into another mission before she had even recovered from the last one. With a heavy heart, the bat changed out of her nightgown and into her regular clothes, makeup and all, and then bolted out the door to catch up with her partners.

* * *

Team Dark stepped into the big conference room at HQ. The glossy wooden table was chock-full of agents and other authorities, including the commander himself, thus making it hard for the two Mobians and one robot to find seats. Upon seeing none, the trio walked to the end of the table, where, conveniently enough, were two vacant chairs right next to each other.

"Sorry, Omega, you'll have to stand," Rouge apologized as she sunk into the cushioned seat.

"No need to apologize; I have a clear view of everything," replied the robot, "It would be impractical of me to take a seat. I could quite possibly break the chair."

Shadow shushed his teammates before Rouge could respond to Omega. Scowling, the bat leaned back in her chair and folded her arms, bracing herself for the worst.

"I'll try to make this as simple as possible," the commander said as idle conversations died down, "I'm sure most of you are aware of the blackouts that have been occurring, am I correct?"

Everyone nodded or mumbled a short "yes". After hearing most of the chorus of "yes"'s, the commander used a small control panel at the other end of the table to open a map projection on the screen in the front. The map contained many green dots and a few red ones all scattered across the region.

"These green dots represent the blackout areas where the electric current was disrupted or the system was shut down entirely. We've had electricians and circuit workers attempt to determine the source of the problems, but not a single one could pinpoint it in the city's system. Many explained to us that the main power was being drained through some kind of device outside of the entire system."

"Get that fox kid on the job," Rouge whispered to Shadow, who shot her a less-than-amused glance. The commander continued his explanation.

"Since then, we've been trying to identify the exact location of where this potentially harmful device could be. There were only a few areas that proved to hold some sort of threat to the electrical field in these cities. These areas are marked by the red dots on this map," he said, pointing to the screen, "and we'll be sending out small squadrons to each location."

Rouge groaned louder than she had expected, causing many heads to turn in her general direction. Clearly exasperated, the bat buried her face in her arms in the same manner that a student would when a teacher gives a pop quiz. The commander, though thrown off for a brief moment, finalized his assignment speech.

"Each squadron is expected to report back here in no more than three weeks," he said, "Whether you've found suspicious activity or not. No exceptions to this; am I clear?"

The commander looked as his mostly bright-eyed and eager soldiers, who nodded their heads and happily accepted the job. He peered back at Team Dark, which consisted of an incredibly worn-out bat and her hedgehog and robot partners that both shook her in attempt to wake her up.

"I repeat: I am I clear, Team Dark?"

Shadow's head snapped up at the sound of his team being called and nodded quickly.

"Clear as day," he answered with a slight snarl, finally resorting to giving Rouge a flick of her ear. She jolted awake and yawned.

"Here," she murmured absentmindedly, her head clearly not focusing on work. Shadow brought his palms to his face and covered his eyes. He didn't dare to see the commander's reaction expression.

"Glad to see we're all here," the commander growled, loud enough for everyone to hear, "now, then, I will assign each particular unit their respective areas."

Shadow waited until Team Dark was called and made a mental note of where they were going.

"Team Dark, you will be investigating Mystic Cave," the commander announced, keeping a suspicious eye on Rouge, who still nodded off no matter how hard she tried to fight it.

"Omega, do you have that place recorded somewhere in your system?" Shadow asked.

"I have not ever been to Mystic Cave," the robot droned with a hint of shame, "However, we can still try to set up a route with my mapping system."

"Guess we'll have to try that, then," Shadow sighed as he watched all of the other agents getting up and leaving in order to prepare for their journeys. The hedgehog stood up himself, staring at the exhausted bat, whose head lay flat on the table. He took one of her wings between his index finger and thumb, giving her a slight tug to try and wake her up.

"Let's go pack up," he said, poking the bat multiple times as she started to stir. Rouge rubbed as much sleep out of her eyes as she could before drowsily standing up. Letting her exasperation escape in the form of a sigh, Rouge ran to the doorway where her teammates had disappeared through to get ready for their next challenge.


	3. First Contact

The motorcycle roared as Shadow swerved through city streets on it, his bat companion sitting behind him. Omega used his own turbo drive to cruise alongside the hedgehog's motor vehicle, keeping up with him at a steady pace. Shadow had hoped that the motorcycle would have drowned out Rouge's voice, but her complaining was remarkably loud, winning over the bike.

"I tell you, they just don't care about their employees anymore!" she yelled as Shadow turned a sharp corner, partially in attempt to scare her out of talking. Much to the hedgehog's disappointment, it wasn't working. "They really oughta take our health and well-being into consideration, y'know? Let us recharge."

"Omega and I did recharge; it's you that's the problem," retorted the hedgehog with bared teeth. He applied the brakes and came to an abrupt stop at a red light.

"Well, excuse me for not being made in a laboratory," she muttered in reply. Omega pulled up at the side of the bike and turned his head towards his partners.

"Take the next exit to Route 99," he calculated, "and continue straight on from there."

"Route 99 . . ." Shadow pictured the road in his mind's eye and watched for the light to turn green. Once the color flashed to life, he sped out of the intersection. This time, Rouge was caught off-guard and her eyes widened with a slight pang of terror.

"All right, I get it," she shouted, "no need to drive like a bat out of hell."

"That bat should go back from where she came so she doesn't affect my driving," Shadow yelled back, smirking. The hedgehog smiled as he felt a little blow on the back of his head.

"You'd better watch yourself, buster," she said warningly.

"I request that you halt your incessant bickering for a moment," Omega interrupted, "Both of you will fry my circuits. Refrain from any disagreement from this point on."

Both of the Mobians were rendered speechless by Omega's scolding. They continued the journey without another word to each other, heading straight down Route 99.

Soon enough, the traffic thinned out until the motorcycle and Omega were the only vehicles left on Route 99. Rouge kept an eye on her surroundings as they passed by in an instant. Trees and some farmland were the main sights to see as they drove past. Occasionally Rouge glanced up at the sky, but it was just blue. There wasn't a cloud to be seen; not for miles around. Only blue with the blinding white glow of the sun. Naturally, she wondered what a Chaos Emerald would look like in the shining sun. Her thoughts of jewels were cut off by the driver.

"Crap!"

Before Rouge could ask what was wrong, the motorcycle began to sputter.

"The old boy's out of gas?"

"Looks like it," growled Shadow, "Omega, where's the nearest rest stop?"

"On the right," Omega answered immediately, pointing to a little gas station and picnic area. Shadow slowed his pace and pulled into a spot to pump gas into the bike.

"Damn bike doesn't work like it used to," the hedgehog grumbled as he stuck the nozzle into the tank.

"Oh, quit your whining," Rouge said as she leaned up against the motorcycle, "it's been a long time since it's seen any action."

"It is highly recommended that we run an inspection on the motor vehicle," Omega droned from behind.

"Well, it's a bit too late now," Rouge chuckled, "how much farther do we have to go?"

"We have approximately forty-five minutes until we reach our destination from this point," the robot computed.

"Great. This thing better hold," Shadow muttered as he held the pump in the gas tank.

"It will, don't you worry your ultimate little head." Rouge took one of Shadow's quills in her hand and tugged at it playfully. Shadow's head fell back slightly as she pulled and let go. He glanced over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow, watching the bat carefully. Rouge shrugged and examined the area, looking over at the small convenience store next to the gas pumps. Curious, she went inside to browse the selection, hoping she could buy herself a bottle of soda or something. The cashier at the counter, a young ferret with huge blue eyes, stood upright as the bat strutted through the automatic door.

"Good afternoon," he said with a wide grin, "is there anything I can do for you, ma'am?"

"No, no, I'm fine," Rouge mumbled as she walked up the snacks aisle, "just looking."

"Well, if you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Thanks," Rouge said, eyeing the young ferret suspiciously. Upon perusing the aisles, she came across a row of refrigerators for the energy drinks, water bottles, and soda. Tapping her chin, the bat yanked open a stubborn door and pulled out two plus-sized water bottles for her and Shadow.

The little bell on the front doors jingled, signaling the entrance of another customer. Rouge peered around the shelves to see who it was, although the cashier's suddenly intimidated facial expression had already given away who it was.

"Do you need something, big guy, or is the old grump giving you a hard time?"

"Shadow has not spoken a word to me, if that is the 'grump' you are referring to," Omega said from the other side of the store, "I had only hoped to find something of interest in this exceedingly tiny establishment."

The bat let out a sharp breath through her nose.

"Like what? Not too much interesting stuff besides snacks and drinks and some other stuff."

A flash of light abruptly blinded Rouge. She blinked twice, once again staring at the robot, who was inquisitively examining a shiny blue flashlight.

"There are some items of interest here," he argued, "these places hold little meaning to me, but at the same time I find them to be rather intriguing."

"Of course you do," the bat replied under her breath as Omega put down the flashlight and began to skim through a puzzle book with his large fingers. Rouge stepped to the counter and placed the two water bottles down.

"W-will that be all?" the ferret asked with a slightly trembling voice.

Rouge nodded.

"That's it."

As he scanned the water bottles, the cashier watched Omega closely, feeling threatened by his largeness. Rouge sensed that same feeling every time she took Omega places; everyone seemed to radiate the same intimidation.

"He's harmless, kid, I assure you," Rouge said as Omega knocked over a display of souvenir pens, "just a klutz."

The ferret nodded quickly, avoiding Omega's red-eyed gaze.

"Th-that'll be ten rings," he uttered. Rouge handed over her rings and received a receipt and the bottles of water. "Have a nice day."

"Thank you," Rouge replied, turning to her teammate and gazing at him with a look of sarcastic pity. "Now Omega, pick up those pens, please. Can't Shads and I take you anywhere?"

"The previous mission has left me with less orientation," he defended, "I apologize for any damage I've caused."

"No harm done," the ferret said, stepping out from behind the counter, "I'll get 'em, don't worry."

Rouge and Omega thanked the ferret one last time and stepped through the automatic doors.

Shadow still stood by his motorcycle, but he poked a thumb in the direction of the park next to the store. Rouge frowned and looked off to the side he was pointing at, and she realized what he was indicating.

Team Sonic had also stopped at the same place, so that Tails could fix a small technical problem on his trusty plane. Sonic and Knuckles lounged at a picnic table, both leaning back with their arms supporting their heads.

Team Dark walked over to the picnic table as quietly as they could. Omega had the biggest disadvantage when it came to that task, given his size and overall clumsiness. Together, the three figures blocked out the sunlight from Sonic's and Knuckles' closed eyes. Both of them frowned.

"It got dark, didn't it?" Sonic asked, opening one eye to check the source of the blockage of light.

"Hey, hon," Rouge said as Sonic sat up in alarm upon seeing Team Dark towering over him.

"Oh, man, you guys sure know how to scare the shoes off a poor, unsuspecting hedgehog!"

"Our pleasure," Shadow grunted. Sonic, suddenly feeling unnaturally uneasy after seeing Shadow, went over to Tails to check on his progress.

Knuckles didn't open his eyes, but he detected the strong smell of Rouge's perfume.

"What're you guys doing here?" he asked, continuing to keep his eyes shut.

"We were headed out on another mission," Rouge answered, "and we stopped for gas for the motorcycle. What about you, hon?"

"Ahh, Sonic dragged Tails and I out here to check out some weird thing that we think is Eggman's work."

"Oh?" Rouge raised an eyebrow inquisitively, "What's he doing now?"

"Sonic said he's hanging out by Mystic Cave, or at least that's what he thinks. I don't know; I haven't been paying close enough attention myself."

"That happens to be exactly where we're going," Omega said, "the G.U.N commander sent us."

"I'm sorry," Knuckles mumbled, fully conscious of their last embark, "well, is there any chance you might be able to help us out?"

"Why don't we make that the other way around?" Rouge asked, sitting on the picnic table's seat and placing her boots on Knuckles' lap, "You help us complete this mission, and maybe G.U.N will give us a hard-earned vacation."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow and removed Rouge's feet from his lap, shooting her a look of skepticism."That's great. What's in it for us?"

"Mmm . . ." Rouge sighed, pursing her lips, "I'll think about it."

"You'll get a gold star," Shadow remarked with no enthusiasm. "But we'll have to see if you're qualified enough to get one with a smiley face."

Knuckles growled.

"That isn't funny," he muttered under his breath.

Sonic appeared behind Shadow and winked at Knuckles.

"It was pretty funny for a guy with almost no sense of humor," the blue blur said in attempt to startle Shadow. When he saw no reaction, Sonic shrugged and walked around the dark hedgehog. "So we're all going together, then?"

"Guess so," Rouge responded, barely missing the look of contempt that Shadow shot at his blue faker.

"Sweet! Lemme go tell Tails and we can head out, all right?"

Sonic didn't give anyone a chance to answer before he sped off to tell the little fox about their company for the trip. Tails looked up from his plane to see Team Dark standing by the picnic table, and then waved. Rouge nodded in reply, Shadow crossed his arms, and Omega stood completely still, off in his own little world.

Once Tails had finished patching up the minor issues that the plane was having, Team Sonic and Team Dark headed back onto(or above) Route 99.

"Hey, how about a race?" Sonic teased Shadow as the dark hedgehog mounted his bike. Sonic tried to hide a snicker as Shadow shot him a murderous glare and took off towards Mystic Cave.

* * *

"Well, look what I've caught on my radar."

The tall figure stroked his extravagant facial hair with gloved fingers, watching a giant screen in front of him. Six Mobians flew by the screen, all going in the same direction. "Oh, they're in for quite a treat this time."

Eggman pointed to his new line of robots and spun his chair around.

"Everyone line up and prepare for battle! Move out!"

Every robot saluted their creator before marching out the door of the huge vehicle. The doctor chuckled as he glared at the screen.

"I certainly hope you've prepared yourself, Sonic," he warned the screen, curling a fist, "you and your friends are mine, and this time-"-he tapped his fingers on a big red switch- "you won't escape me."


	4. Adrenaline Rush

**A/N: Sorry to bother you guys again! Next update may or may not come on Thursday, but we'll see how that goes. :P But anyway! **

**Also, this chapter isn't quite like the others . . . and that's all I'm saying about it. Thank you! Carry on!**

* * *

The motorcycle rode along smoother than before, now that it had a full tank. At least, that's what it felt like to Shadow. He revved the engine a few times, partially showing off his vehicle, partially in a hurry to get the mission over with now that Team Sonic had joined them.

Very little, if any, conversation was exchanged between anyone on the way to Mystic Cave. The only thing that resembled conversation was Omega rattling off when they were going to reach the destination point, as a GPS would, followed by a grunt of approval from either Shadow or Rouge.

Forty-five minutes dragged by, leaving everyone slightly irritable and grumpy. Shadow, releasing his emotions on his bike, drove ahead of Sonic, Omega, and Tails to see if he could get to the destination more quickly. He came up to a curve in the road and began to make the turn. Just as he swerved through the sharp curve, he looked over his shoulder for a split second to see if anyone was behind him, or if he'd lost the lot of them. Rouge's eyes suddenly widened and she let out a shriek.

"Shadow!"

Just as Shadow whirled around to face the front again, a mass of yellow and silver appeared in front of the bike. Shadow attempted to swing the handlebars and veer to the right side of the empty road, but the metal figure leaped to the right before Shadow could avoid it. Sparks flew as the metal from both the motorcycle and the figure in front of it scraped together. The hedgehog felt Rouge's hands slide past his as she attempted to fly him away from the crash, unfortunately unsuccessfully. Shadow squeezed his eyes shut and felt himself being propelled back and he heard his bike being crunched against the face of the obstacle. He hit the road hard, landing on his back with a thud.

Rouge landed on her feet and hurried to Shadow's side.

"Shadow, what the hell-"

She stopped dead when she noticed red spots on the concrete road. "Oh, no . . . No, no, no . . ."

"Stop it, I'm fine . . ." Shadow wheezed, clutching the back of his neck, "nothing's broken." He lifted himself to his knees and coughed. The coughs sent a shooting pain up his chest and his neck as he twisted his head around to make sure he still could move his neck. It was still bleeding, but it had already begun to heal.

"Nothing except the bike. It's totaled," Rouge sighed, glancing at the totaled motorcycle. "What the hell did we hit?"

Omega's voice suddenly rang out from behind them.

"Enemy approaching."

"Oh, that's just great," muttered Shadow as he staggered towards the wreckage, "Brilliant. It must have been one of Eggman's."

The sound of a landing plane came closer to Team Dark as they watched the curve from which they had come. Tails and Knuckles were clambering out, and Sonic joined them not a second later.

"Shadow, what did you do?" the echidna demanded, confronting Shadow, "Are you trying to draw attention to yourself today?"

"That was not my intention."

"Then what was? What kind of a driver are you?"

"I was looking behind me, all right?" Shadow snapped, keeping his voice low, "I wasn't paying attention to what was ahead."

Rouge intervened and gripped Knuckles' shoulder tightly.

"Hon, it was an accident. At least he admitted to it; that's something we don't normally see."

"I'm feeling especially humble today," Shadow snarled between bared teeth.

"Well, be more careful," the echidna growled, "If something else happens, I swear . . ."

Sonic didn't have time to say anything as he threw himself in front of Knuckles in a spin dash. He was only just able to send a missile up in flames before it got to his friends.

"Bad time for a welcome party, Egghead," he called into the air, where a small vehicle carrying Doctor Eggman whirred overhead.

"I'm afraid the party ends here, Sonic and friends," Eggman returned, throwing his arms into the air, "this time I don't see how I can possibly fail!"

"Keep telling yourself that," Sonic retorted.

"With pleasure." Eggman snapped his fingers, and a squadron of huge yellow and silver robots paraded towards the wreckage, both from behind and in front of the two Teams.

Sonic whistled.

"Gosh, you certainly outdid yourself this time, didn't ya, old boy?"

"I'm rather pleased myself," the doctor said, caught in his moment of pride, "meet my new, unstoppable army!"

The robots sprung into action, as did everyone else. Sonic spin dashed through multiple metal figures, severing through the armor that protected the sensitive insides. Rouge and Knuckles fought side by side, fatally denting the metal faces of each one and throwing them aside for the next.

Shadow blasted the robots with Chaos blasts and spears, his deep voice among the cacophony of metal being broken. He swung his legs out, feeling the hard exterior of one robot sending a shock wave from his foot to his waist. As he knocked it out, his ears picked up the high-pitched sound of Tails struggling as he was being dragged backwards by two of Eggman's metal henchmen. Shadow brought his arms over his head and whirled them forward in a half-circle to rescue the fox.

"Chaos Spear!" he cried.

The spears sliced through the shoulders of the robots, causing their arms to clatter to the ground and allowing the fox to escape.

"Thanks, Shadow!" Tails exclaimed with a broad smile crossing his face.

"Don't mention it," muttered the hedgehog as he threw out his fist to attack the metal creature that sneaked up behind him.

"System error," Omega's voice crackled suddenly in the midst of battle. Shadow and Rouge instantly reacted, being the only ones to sense when the robot was in true danger. They shoved through the crowd of metal beasts to find their teammate in the center of the group, surrounded by smaller robots.

"Hey!"

The small robots detached themselves from Omega's interior wire board, making hissing sounds at the two concerned friends. With a few swift kicks and Chaos Spears, the little robots were flying into an opening in the side of the road, spewing sparks everywhere. Rouge clutched her metal companion's shoulders and looked into his red eyes with her own wild ones.

"Omega, what happened? What did they do to you?"

"Fire—a-arms-dis-ss-abled . . ." Omega sputtered. "Data overwritten—system recovery under way."

Omega's eyes went dark as he powered down to recover the data that he'd lost. Rouge searched the eyes for a spark of light, calling his name.

"Omega!"

"Chaos blast!" Shadow blew back the surrounding machines in one shot. His fire was returned with three heat-seeking missiles that he dodged with one long leap. The missiles struck the shoulder of the road, sending a shower of crumbling concrete into his face and eyes. "Rouge, watch him!" Shadow yelled as two of the armored soldiers lunged for him.

Rouge dove for the ground to avoid what appeared to be a laser blast from another robot. She rolled and jumped to her feet again just as another robot pulled its arm back, preparing to thrust its claws into Omega's front. The bat flew in front of Omega and dug her heels into the opponent's frontal grill. She felt the heat from the grill escape as the robot went reeling backwards. Confident, the bat examined the group of robots sprawled all around her and the powered-down body of Omega. She drew in a shaky breath and wiped a drop of sweat from her forehead.

"Should think twice before you pick a fight with a lady," the bat scolded the lifeless robots.

"Rouge!"

The deep and powerful voice screamed just before the bat heard a thud behind her. There stood a bigger, more built robot, whose claw hovered over a head of red dreadlocks. Horror violently tugged at Rouge's stomach as the red echidna's body hit the hard ground.

"_No!_"

The robot plucked Knuckles from the ground as he dropped, unconscious from the blow. With an angry cry of effort, Rouge hurled herself at the robot. She threw herself at the metal armor, blindly kicking and screaming as she desperately attempted to free Knuckles. The robot extended the other claw at the distressed bat and snatched her from midair.

"Let go of me, you-"

Her furious protests were drowned out as the monstrous creature sent a current of electricity surging through its arms and into Rouge's body. The pain hit her suddenly, overwhelming her nervous system. Try as she might, Rouge couldn't help but let a yell escape her mouth.

Shadow's ears twitched as he heard the sound of true anguish through the rest of the noise. Rouge didn't normally call for help; it was abnormal for her to scream.

"Rouge?" Shadow pushed Sonic aside as he frantically searched for his partners. He could barely feel his jet skates gliding over the broken road. "Rouge, where are you?!"

His question was answered when he noticed two limp bodies in the clutches of one of Eggman's robots. Curling his upper lip, Shadow gather Chaos Energy in his fist, preparing to attack.

"Chaos—ugh!"

A hard blow caught the dark hedgehog from behind, clipping him on the back of his neck where he'd landed during the accident. A numbing pain shot down his spine like a reverse chill. He wobbled around; his vision became blurred with tears of agony. He tried to fight them back, but the clouded vision bested the hedgehog. Something grabbed his Chaos Emerald from his hand and took it away.

"Thank you, dear Shadow," drawled a proud Doctor Eggman as he twirled the green Emerald between his fingers, "I knew I could count on you for assistance in my master plan."

Shadow wordlessly attempted to get back up on his feet. He tried to ignore the sickening pain in his back and reached for the Emerald, barely missing it as Eggman lifted his boot and kicked the hedgehog back. Humiliated by his helplessness, Shadow tumbled to the ground and let fury blaze in his eyes. He glanced at his teammates, who were both suspended in the air by robots. In the midst of his pain, Shadow felt himself forcibly being lifted from the ground by under his arms. He could scarcely see the tall doctor approaching a weary blue hedgehog that stood breathless in the middle of many destroyed robots.

"So, Eggman, looks like your new plan really has failed this time," Sonic said.

"Don't you get your hopes up, Sonic; I've got all of your friends." The doctor motioned to the robots that held Rouge, Tails, Knuckles, Omega, and Shadow. Sonic gritted his teeth, but quickly changed his expression to a weak smile.

"You got me there, pal," he mumbled, refusing to let the feeling of defeat take over him.

Eggman chuckled. It was like any other chuckle, until it grew. The chuckle intensified into a laugh, and the laugh into a maniacal cackle. Sonic's smile faded as Eggman's screech of laughter broke the deathly silence.

Without warning, Sonic felt himself being slammed to the ground by his neck. Eggman continued to laugh and jumped on Sonic's legs to prevent him from running. The hedgehog cried out in pain as he felt his legs being crushed under the doctor's boots.

"You have nowhere to run, Sonic," Eggman chortled, "And I have you now. Give it up; I've won this time."

"I can still-"

Sonic didn't finish his sentence. Eggman suddenly brandished a knife and shakily held it up against Sonic's quickly moving chest near his heart. The blue blur said nothing for a second, but his lips clumsily formed words. "It's come to this . . . has it, then, Egghead?"

Shadow's vision became clearer. He realized what was happening and widened his eyes. Doctor Robotnik had officially lost his mind. He was so bent on revenge that he decided to take matters into his own hands . . . literally.

Eggman took Sonic's arms in his hands and pressed them into the concrete. He smiled a twisted smile, and then, with two fingers per hand, began to force the wrists back, curling them so that they might break. Sonic bit his lip and did his best to swallow down a scream.

"Eggman, you bastard!" Shadow bellowed as Sonic eventually let out a yell of pain, "Let him go!"

The dark hedgehog stumbled towards the doctor and threw his fists at him, blindly striking at his face. Eggman immediately fell back and freed Sonic, who trembled as he scrambled to his feet. He inhaled sharply when he heard a loud crack coming from both legs.

Eggman swung his arm out, knocking Shadow back. He grinned with pure satisfaction as Sonic's legs gave way and he hit the ground.

"My work here is nearly finished," the doctor said, "take them away."

Two robots took hold of Sonic's arms and began to fly him up, along with an unconscious Tails and Knuckles. Shadow fought against two other intact robots that caught him by surprise.

"You'll never get away with this, you son of a-"

"Ah-ah-ah," Eggman scolded, "language, Mr. Shadow." With a snap of his fingers, something else started striking the back of Shadow's head and didn't stop. As he was occupied, Eggman quietly whispered a question to one of his robotic soldiers.

"Team Dark objective: locate Doctor Eggman in Mystic Cave. Thwart plans." the robot replied.

"So you're after me, then? Well, how about we take a little visit to Mystic Cave, shall we?"

Shadow's vision went back to blurry, and then red. He felt warm blood staining his back from the blows.

"N-no . . ." he whispered, unable to think.

The hedgehog's last memory was Eggman's laughter before he completely blacked out.


	5. Approaching the Ground

Mystic Cave entrance was hidden, for the most part, in a jungle. It was difficult to find it manually, but Eggman's mad genius at robot design and engineering proved useful as they arrived at the entrance successfully. The GPS-like system in Eggman's hovering vehicle was no flop. The cave appeared to be a gaping hole in the ground, nearly covered entirely with greenery and whatever small creatures happened to be dwelling there.

Eggman glanced over at the robots that held the members of Team Dark—none of whom were conscious. Team Sonic was being contained in his newest weapon, all just as unconscious as Team Dark. The doctor smiled at the picture of success that he saw before him. It felt so good to have finally won, to have beaten six of his most hated opponents. They had been the only ones in his way whenever he had plans, and now they were gone. The doctor chuckled uncontrollably to himself. He could finally say it without a sarcastic reply—Nothing could stand in his way. Nothing and no one.

"Nothing," he whispered, "Nothing . . ." The mad doctor laughed again, clenching his fists as though struggling to contain his elation. He couldn't stop. The bliss, the satisfaction, all morphed together to create a gnarled feeling in the doctor's mind. Everything was coming together—and it overwhelmed the doctor's mental state until it took over completely. Put simply, Eggman had lost his mind to his success. Meanwhile, his robotic minions all looked downward, as though mourning the loss of their master's healthy mental state.

Eggman attempted to get a hold of himself. Tears streamed down his eyes as he giggled insanely, trying his best to force his senselessness down and back into his throat.

"Throw them in," he said with a breaking voice, "now. I want this entrance . . . I want it . . . Blast, what was the word-"

"Covered?" one robot suggested, timidly stepping forward.

"Ah-ha! Yes, yes, throw everything you can over the entrance after they've hit the bottom . . . rock bottom . . . heh, yes, yes, yes . . ."

The robot minions all nodded simultaneously. The two that had been clutching Shadow and Rouge tossed them down carelessly into the pit that was Mystic Cave. Eggman listened as the limp figures hit the bottom with muffled "thud"'s. The doctor stifled a cackle, his only speck of sanity left holding him back from another fit of deranged laughter. He snapped his fingers, beckoning three robots that had been holding Omega captive with their claws.

"Firearms . . . he can't . . . no, uh . . . boom-boom?" Eggman stuttered to his minions.

"E-123's firearms have been disabled completely," one robot stated, "strength has been decreased by approximately 45.006796 percent."

"Ah, excellent, excellent. Remind me to give you . . . a raise," Eggman said, spreading his arms as he found the right words, "but first, you must complete your task! Throw him in, the disloyal backstabber."

"Yes, master," the robots chimed. They pushed themselves to lift up E-123 and let him go as their arms were up. Omega's metal body didn't go too high into the air, but rolled down into the hole and fell with a crunch.

"Ah-ha ha ha!" Eggman chortled, "Oh, my, my . . ." He wiped another tear from his cheek and barked a sudden order at his robots. "You know what to do next, you rats!" he rasped, "Cover it up!"

The army began to obediently locate boulders appropriately sized for covering Mystic Cave's entrance. There couldn't have been a more solemn silence from an army of E-series robots.

* * *

Shadow's nose twitched. A small pebble bounced off of his face and landed near his head on the smooth stone ground. He groaned slightly as a sharp pain shot up his back.

"Holy crap," he murmured, "where in the hell-"

The ceiling of the cave came into focus, as well as the light coming from the entrance. Shadow's ears picked up a voice and the sound of metal grinding against rock. The image of Eggman crushing Sonic's legs suddenly flashed through the dark hedgehog's mind for an instant.

"Eggman," he breathed, trying to bring his voice to a yell. "Eggman!"

His shout barely came across as a whisper. Shadow was still frozen to the ground. He watched as two robots pushed a boulder over the cave's entrance.

"You fools, it's much too small!" Eggman's voice rang out. Shadow registered in his mind what this meant, and, despite his aching limbs, stood up and quickly scooped Rouge's still unconscious body in his arms. He dodged the boulder just before it bounced off of a protruding wall and slammed to the ground where Shadow and Rouge would have been.

Shadow's arms creaked under the weight of Rouge. She wasn't that heavy, but the hedgehog's entire body had been weakened completely after the battle. He labored to breathe, taking in as much air as he could before releasing it again.

"Ugh . . ."

Shadow's arms faltered as he carefully set down Rouge. She twitched slightly, and then spoke as if she was still asleep.

"Th-thanks."

Shadow pursed his lips and nodded, even though Rouge wouldn't have seen it. Another thought crossed his mind.

"Omega!" he cried very faintly, "Omega . . . where . . . Omega!"

Out of the corner of his eye, the hedgehog caught a glimpse of a mass of metal sputtering and sparking. Thankfully, the boulder had only just missed the robot. Shadow ran towards Omega and examined his features, checking to see if anything was severely damaged. Shadow recalled the shock absorbers in his that had been installed just recently. They had done a good job of keeping the robot almost completely intact, save for a few crunched pieces in his legs and his side.

"Omega . . ." Shadow uttered, "C'mon, wake the hell up . . . come on . . ."

Eggman's voice rattled Shadow's ears again.

"Perfect! Lay it over the top!" he shouted, "Let them rot in this cave!"

"No!" Shadow screamed, or what he thought was a scream. "You'll never get away with-"

The rock covered up the light that had been streaming in. Shadow stood motionless, having difficulty processing what had just occurred. Rage gripped his insides until it burst in the form of a roar.

"Damn it all!" he bellowed, punching the boulder that had fallen into the cave with every ounce of strength he had left. The hedgehog ignored the immense tingling pain in his fingers and sank to the ground. "Damn you, Robotnik . . . damn you and your lousy pieces of crap . . ."

Rouge had begun to stir. She moaned slightly as she heard Shadow's mumbled curses. Shadow heard the small sound and limped to the bat, who was still flat on the ground.

"Rouge, are you . . . are you-"

"I'm fine," she snapped, "don't touch me."

Shadow backed off. Rouge got to her feet and brushed herself off, attempting to get any dirt off of her outfit and boots.

"Oh, my head . . ." she moaned, "where are we?"

Shadow gazed at what used to be the entrance.

"Mystic Cave," he spat, "Eggman's doing."

Rouge sighed heavily and placed her face in her palms.

"No, no, no . . ." she muttered. She released her face very suddenly. "Where's Omega?"

The hedgehog nodded in the direction of the robot. Rouge ran to him and began to knock on his metal exterior. "Omega?"

No reply.

"Omega, wake up!"

When she was countered with a harsh silence, Rouge opened up the robot's back panel and searched for the tiny "reboot" button. When she located it, the bat jammed her finger into it and held it for a long three seconds. Omega made a few beeping sounds, and then his eyes started to glow again.

"Thank God," Rouge breathed as Omega came to. "How're you holding up, big guy?"

Omega hesitated before spewing a series of static-like coding from his voice box like one of the fast voices at the end of a commercial. Rouge and Shadow jumped back at the sudden cacophony.

"Geez," Shadow breathed once Omega stopped, "Is he . . ."

"That . . . I think it was normal . . ." Rouge stuttered, unsure of anything.

"Omega!" Shadow called from where he was standing, "Omega, are you all right?"

The robot lifted himself up and slowly pivoted his torso to face his teammates.

"System recovery successful," he stated, "Memory restored. Data banks filled."

"Oh my gosh, you had us worried, buddy!" Rouge sighed, relieved.

"Firearms disabled," Omega said. "I . . . I regret to inform . . ."

Shadow and Rouge exchanged concerned glances. Rouge was the first to react, shushing the guilty-looking robot.

"Hey, it's all right, big guy. That's okay. We still love ya."

Omega's head creaked as he lifted it, seemingly brightening up at Rouge's words.

"Communications have been cut off," the robot continued, still making observations, "Service unavailable."

"Ohhh . . ." Rouge groaned, both from this news and the pain in her wings, "what in the world were they thinking, giving these to us if we wouldn't be able to contact them?"

Shadow paid no attention to Rouge's question and Omega's hypothesized answer. He instead looked around at the cave. They were in a smaller chamber, and there were two paths—one on the left, and the other on the right.

"We should start looking for an exit," the hedgehog said, "so we can get out of here as soon as possible."

Rouge peered into the darkness that was Mystic Cave.

"No thanks," she responded in a falsely cheerful tone, "I'd rather stay here. You two go ahead and come back to tell me when you find the way out."

"Fine. You can let the spiders eat you alive then," Shadow replied, throwing a glance over his shoulder. Rouge pictured thousands of arachnids crawling all over her skin and collectively absorbing her insides through their fanged mouths. She shivered.

"Ugh. Lead on, then, O dark hedgehog."

"Thank you."

* * *

For a while, Team Dark walked through the narrow tunnel. There were a few very old lanterns that only dimly lit the path, each one laced with spiderwebs and caked with dust. Every now and then, Shadow peeked over his shoulder to check on his teammates. The journey was mostly silent, save for an occasional sarcastic remark or complaint from Rouge.

"My wings must have been crushed!" she said, "What did Eggman do, throw us in here?"

"I'm in just as much pain as you," Shadow replied, gritting his teeth, "nevertheless, we should move on so we can get medical help as soon as possible."

"Omega, don't you have a first aid kit or something with our other supplies?" the bat inquired.

"We packed very few bandages, considering everyone assumed this mission would be much shorter and easier," he responded, "I apologize."

Rouge exhaled loudly through her mouth, her irritation becoming more evident. Shadow rolled his eyes.

"We'll be out of here in no time," he muttered, "just bear with me for a bit, will you?"

"How can you be so sure?" Rouge demanded, "We've been in here for hours! I can feel my muscles deteriorating!"

Shadow stopped walking, causing Rouge to bump into his back. He flinched as she bumped his bruised spike.

"Omega, how long have we been walking through here?" he asked.

"Approximately fifteen minutes," the robot answered. Shadow couldn't help but shoot Rouge a smug look. The team continued to march forward. Not another word was exchanged for another fifteen minutes as they traveled through the winding rocky tunnel.

Rouge was lost in her own thoughts, until she hit a halted Shadow in front of her.

"Shadow, why are we stopping?"

The words hadn't even escaped her mouth before she saw why the hedgehog had stopped walking.

"Holy Mobius . . ." she breathed, her green eyes wide with awe.


	6. The Plunge

**A/N: Hey, guys! just wanted to let you know that this chapter is a little shorter. Yeah . . . that's all, thanks! **

* * *

Beauty comes in all different sizes, shapes, and forms. One could only imagine the sight of a giant underground ravine left in an abandoned cavern, with crystal formations embedded in the walls and a single river flowing from a waterfall on one side to what seemed to be an eternal tunnel. At least, these were the things that Rouge and Shadow had ever imagined.

"Of all the missions I've been on," Rouge mumbled, "I don't think I've ever seen anything like this."

Shadow said nothing, but instead immediately began contemplating a way out. He noticed a tiny beam of light at the end of the ravine, and wondered if that would be a potential escape route. Rouge, on the other hand, continued to gawk at the rock formations and stalactites hanging from the high cave ceiling.

"I'll bet there's entire diamond mines waiting to be discovered in this place," she sighed, lost in thought, "I'd have every single jewel left in the world, and just from this! I'll mention you two when I'm rich," she said, "and maybe I'll put in a good word for G.U.N, too."

"Mystic Cave contains much mysterious greenery and abandoned mine shafts," Omega said, hoping to inform Rouge, "all traces of precious and semi-precious jewels and crystals have been eliminated due to excessive mining in the past century. Mining facilities have therefore been shut down and are no longer in use."

Rouge shot a glare at the robot.

"Way to ruin the illusion, pal," she huffed, attempting to return to her happy thoughts, "I mean, there could be some hope, right?"

"Negative. All mines were deserted years ago."

The bat scowled.

"Fine. Thank you for crushing my dreams, Omega."

"I apologize; I tell you nothing but the truth."

Shadow didn't feel like getting involved in the exchange between his teammates. It went without saying that Rouge would have brought up something about jewels; that part was too obvious. Although the hedgehog couldn't help but crack the tiniest grin when Omega shot down her aspirations so quickly and innocently. Once the two had gone silent, Shadow pointed in the direction of the light he'd seen.

"Do you see that little beam of light coming in, Rouge?" he asked, "I think we should head over there."

Rouge squinted and, upon seeing what Shadow was talking about, nodded.

"Yeah, I see it. I suppose we have no other choice but to go that way," she replied. "Come on, Omega."

"Proceed with caution," Omega said, "many of the mine shafts are riddled with parasitic insects and other such creatures."

Shadow and Rouge nodded their thanks for the information and the team moved towards the light, sidling along the rocky path and carefully watching their steps as they crossed over an old and probably rotting wooden bridge. Surprisingly, it held all three members as they safely walked across.

"You'd think the bridge would've completely collapsed," Shadow commented before the ropes that held the bridge together snapped loudly and the entire structure fell against the opposite side of the chasm.

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Rouge remarked sarcastically in reply. Shadow only grunted and led the team to where the light was coming in. They sidled a little more and cautiously stepped into the little chamber where a single beam of light came in from the ceiling. After staring at it for a moment, Rouge was the first to speak. "Well?"

Shadow examined the cave's ceiling, right as the light disappeared.

"Wha-" he protested, "It was right here!"

"Great. You're already losing your mind," Rouge said, "now we'll just have to die in this deathtrap."

"I am perfectly sane," Shadow responded, although he was even beginning to doubt himself, "Omega, didn't you see that little light, too?"

"I can confirm that there was a light there, Shadow," the robot said in reply, "however, it has vanished."

Rouge pursed her lips.

"Now what?" she demanded, becoming annoyed.

Frustrated, Shadow turned his gaze to the ground.

"Guess we'll just have to look for another way out," he answered, his voice cold with bitterness. "I vote we go that way."

Rouge looked where Shadow was pointing. A line of still-burning torches lit up another tunnel that was lined with wooden planks, much like the bridge.

"Hey, uh, genius," she scoffed, folding her arms, "did you see what the bridge in there is made of?"

"Yes. This one is being supported by a layer of stone underneath it, so we don't have to worry about it falling. Besides, there must be a way out if someone built a shaft here."

Before Rouge could open her mouth, Shadow and Omega had already disappeared into the man-made mine tunnel. She looked at the ravine behind her, then back at her teammates, and sighed heavily.

"Wait up," she called into the tunnel.

* * *

It was another long, snaky tunnel. There were twists and turns and even spots without lighting, save for Omega's eyes. Every now and then, the team would come across a dead end or four-way intersections.

"We've been this way before," Shadow mumbled to himself, "I know it."

"Can we just sit and reconsider our lives at the moment?" Rouge asked, slumping to the ground. "It ain't easy to walk in these shoes, you know."

"Not yet," Shadow replied, "We're getting out of here. We're close, I know we are."

"You've said that at least ten times in the past hour!" she protested, "Come on, just one little break, please?"

"I won't stand for any more of your whining," Shadow snapped, irritable. "You've done enough of that."

"And I'll do it more," she snapped back, "or, I'll just sit right here and not move. You guys go ahead and I'll be taking a nap."

Shadow bit back another comment. He looked forward into the abyss of a tunnel, and then back at Rouge. Snarling, he sat down with her and silently tried to figure out some sort of escape. He was determined to find a way out of the tunnel, because he knew Rouge would do nothing but complain.

The minute he broke out of his daydreaming, Shadow found Rouge curled up next to him, sound asleep. Her back was turned to face him, and her body rose and fell with each slow breath. Omega stood beside her, completely motionless.

Shadow noticed a bruise that nearly crossed the entirety of her uncovered back. One wing was bent slightly, but didn't look quite as injured as her back. Shadow often forgot that she didn't heal from wounds as quickly as he did. And now he couldn't help but feel a little bad for her. Just a little. After all, she wasn't immortal like he was.

Shadow's eyes slowly started to droop. The hedgehog checked his watch, because there was no other way to tell what time of the day it was. 10:30 PM. Shadow rubbed his aching head with his fingers.

_Crap, we really have been in here for hours,_ he thought. The hedgehog stretched out his arms and legs, and laid himself down on the stony floor.

"Omega, go into sleep mode," he quietly called, "we're calling it a day."

The robot nodded and Shadow watched his eyes go out faintly and listened as he made a tiny whistling sound as he powered down. Still lost in thought, Shadow felt himself drifting off and finally shut his eyes, surrendering to the fatigue.

* * *

Shadow woke with a start from a strange dream. He dreamt that he was alone in a prison cell, after his teammates had both been taken away from him, almost in the same way Maria had. In the dream, he couldn't speak or shout as he watched a bullet pierce Rouge's skin right in the back of her head. And yet another soldier had completely dismantled Omega, and was throwing his parts into a furnace. Though it was a disturbing dream, Shadow managed to shake it off and recover.

Rouge had gotten up first and was rifling through Omega's tiny storage compartment. Omega did nothing to protest or to stop her.

"Rouge . . ." the hedgehog sighed, "what is going on?"

"I'm trying to find food," she replied bluntly, "I'm freaking starving."

Shadow hadn't thought of that. He didn't get hungry easily. Rouge just kept rummaging through the compartment to dig around for something that she could eat.

"Who packed two full boxes of Twinkies?!" she demanded, "I don't want just sugar! That's gross!"

Shadow didn't dare admit the answer to that question, although the look in his eyes made it quite obvious.

"Honestly, all I'm asking for is something to help me stay thin," the bat mumbled to herself, "didn't we pack celery or something?"

"You want to eat celery at nine in the morning?"

"I want to eat something that isn't made of sugar and chemicals!"

Shadow decided not to press the matter any further and watched as Rouge started pulling thins out of the compartment.

"Ah-ha!" she shouted triumphantly, "Found a little salad! I knew it was in here somewhere!"

After thanking Omega and closing up his storage compartment, Rouge sat herself down and began gnawing at the lettuce and whatever else was in the salad. Shadow listened to his stomach rumble . . . just a little bit. He was tempted to grab a Twinkie, but elected against it. He could hold out for a little longer.

"We have to continue," Shadow remarked, "this place is bound to have an exit."

"Omega," Rouge suddenly chimed with her mouth full, "can you find a way outta here?"

"Negative," the robot replied, "I'm afraid my GPS mapping system has been erased since the shutdown following Eggman's attack."

"Hm. Well, it was worth a try, anyway," Rouge muttered. "Lemme finish this and then we can get going."

Shadow grunted his ok and let Rouge finish her salad. He decided that, at this point, there wouldn't be a way to try and figure out a way out without just going through the maze and seeing where they'd end up. Once Rouge had finished her healthy breakfast, the Team went off once again into the dark tunnels.


	7. Tensing Up

Just as they'd expected but failed to admit, the journey was the same as the previous day. Each hour was chock-full of dead ends, empty mine shafts, and disappointment. Conversation was wearing thin, as was Shadow and Rouge's patience. Eventually they managed to escape the abandoned mining facility and re-enter the cavern itself. The air was getting thicker as they descended a little deeper into the cave.

This particular section of the cave was lined with strange vegetation, as Omega had said on the first day. Bugs scrambled away as the intruders to their home stepped past.

"Can't we take a break?" Rouge wheezed, her throat desert-dry, "I need something to drink."

"Just pull out the water bottles we got at the gas station," Shadow snapped, "We must be close by now."

"How many times can you say that?" Rouge asked, "Look around! We've probably walked in circles for hours! Everything looks exactly the same!"

Shadow made a low sound in his throat.

"Get your damn water and let's move on, all right? I'm not in the mood to pick a fight."

Rouge made her irritation obvious by letting out a loud sigh. No one said another word for a long time.

A single day turned into two days. Three days. Four days. Five. And all the while, Team Dark was either walking through damp tunnels or getting their rest in them. Each day was a letdown, containing nothing but stone walls and dark, vegetation-ridden corridors. Shadow and Rouge's frustration was showing more and more through cursing at miscellaneous objects and long bickering sessions. Omega would get between them like a single father of two children and order them to move along. The robot never did get truly angry with them; he somehow maintained his patience. However, stern words were getting more stern with every time that he had to scold them.

"Must I warn you again to discontinue your argument?" he said, a harsh tone forming in his voice box.

Rouge and Shadow's voices died down. Both of them knew Omega was much more helpless when his firearms were disabled, but they still stopped arguing. Perhaps it was guilt that caused them to stop.

* * *

Now, above ground, Eggman lingered over Mystic Cave with his newest Egg Carrier. He paced back and forth in the main control room, muttering to himself.

"G.U.N is onto me . . ." he mumbled, "those three little whelps will eventually find their way out of that blasted cave . . ." The doctor let out a mad chuckle. "I must eliminate them. I must. But how? How?" He stroked his mustache and gazed out of the front windshield. Then he looked down at the floor and a twisted smile crept across his sweaty face. An idea, a destructive idea, crossed his mind and thrived. "Oh . . . oh ho . . . yes, that's it . . ." He slowly stepped towards the control panel and grazed his hand over the main ignition key. "Good-bye, Shadow the Hedgehog. Good-bye, Rouge. Good-bye, you cursed traitor . . ." he whispered, his grin widening, "Good-bye, Team Dark . . ."

The door burst open, a bruised blue hedgehog stumbling through it. He noticed the doctor's hand on the key.

"Step away, Egghead," he said with a trembling voice, "you've gone too far this time."

Eggman lifted his hands, as though Sonic was pointing a gun at him.

"You're right," he said, "You've got me."

Sonic had barely taken one step, when Eggman hatched another idea. The term "mad genius" was becoming more applicable to the mustached doctor. "My dear foe," he drawled, "you and I have been enemies for so very long."

"Your point?" Sonic demanded, limping slightly to the doctor.

"We've had many adventures together, and this has been no exception. Haven't you had fun?"

"What are you getting at, old man?" Sonic asked, wrinkling his brow, "I s'pose adventures are always kinda thrilling."

"Yes, they are, aren't they?" Eggman spread his arms and put one around the shoulder of his blue nemesis. "Look out there, Sonic," he indicated the sky where the sun was beginning to set, "How magnificent it all is. My early days as a new villain were spent dreaming of dominating it so that I could have it all to myself. But of course, you came along and grew as a thorn in my side." He tightened his arm around Sonic, who winced in pain, but played along nonetheless. "We've had many a good time."

"Is that all you wanted, Egghead?" Sonic asked, his tone sharp, "Is that really all you wanted? To take over so you could enjoy a pretty view?"

"It was, my dear boy, but now . . ." he pushed Sonic closer to the control panel and let go of him, "now, I have power over my one true nemesis."

"I dunno, I'm kind of a free-spirited guy myself," the hedgehog replied, the tiniest hint of nervousness oozing into his voice. "Never liked the whole 'being controlled' thing."

Eggman licked his drying lips.

"Then you can leave," he mumbled, "Leave here. I never want to see you again, do you hear?"

Sonic was now beyond confused.

"You don't mean that," the hedgehog said with a soft voice, "Hey, c'mon, you know you'll want me to bounce back."

The doctor's mustache twitched with an unidentified emotion.

"Bounce . . ." he whispered. Eggman pressed a button on the control panel, causing the doorway to slam shut. "We all will now."

Sonic's green eyes were wide with sheer incomprehension. He shook his head slowly.

"Egmman, what-"

Eggman's eyes, though impossible to see, were glittering madly. He lunged for an unsuspecting Sonic and shoved him to the control panel. The doctor took Sonic's gloved hand and wrapped his foe's fingers around the key, and then turned it.

"Now look what you've done," Eggman whispered, letting go of Sonic.

"All systems shutting down," a robotic voice rang out. As a red light flashed, Sonic realized the gravity of the situation.

"Tails! Knuckles!" he screamed, trying in all haste to break down the metal door.

"If I'm going down," Eggman whispered, "you're all coming with me."

The Egg Carrier plummeted to the ground directly below it.

* * *

Team Dark was racing through the cavern's endless maze, leaping over gaps and shoving the greenery out of the way. Pieces of the cave had started falling from the ceiling, and they were raining down as something hit the top of the cave.

"Ow!" Rouge yelped as a rock hit her head, "That's it, we're dead now! Might as well just give up, because we're all just dead meat!"

"Down here!" Shadow called, ignoring Rouge's hopeless comment. They scrambled into another small chamber that was hidden underneath the ground that they were walking on. Shadow picked it only because it seemed relatively sturdy. Of course, so did the rest of the cave. Once they reached the lower ground, everyone ducked down and covered their heads. The pieces of the ceiling hailed down and tumbled over their heads. After a painful few moments, the rumbling and the shower of rocks came to a stop. Shadow and Rouge panted, their heads sweaty from the adrenaline rush. "Is everyone all right?" Shadow asked, his voice somewhat shaking.

"Sure, if I wasn't freaking bleeding," Rouge replied as she gingerly touched her forehead.

"Dammit," the hedgehog said, only just noticing a deep gash under her right ear. He rushed to Omega to get a bandage from the storage compartment. He pulled it out and began tearing off the wrapper. Once he did, the bat snatched it from his hand.

"Don't bother," she snapped, "I can take care of myself." She used Omega's shiny metal exterior to guide her hands to the wound, but became frustrated as she couldn't quite match her hands' position to the cut. "Stupid piece of—"

Shadow grabbed the bandage back and carefully pressed the adhesive parts on Rouge's forehead. He pursed his lips.

"You may need another one," he informed her as blood continued to ooze from the sides of the first bandage.

"I'm fine," she growled, "I don't need anything else."

Shadow'e red eyes furiously glimmered in the dim light that Omega provided.

"Don't shower me with gratitude all at once," he muttered under his breath.

"I won't," Rouge said, "Believe me."

"Don't you two even start," Omega began. "I won't stand for it."

"And why not?" Shadow said with a dangerously low voice, "This whole trip has been nothing but Rouge complaining. No matter what I do, she can't be grateful for a single thing."

"All you've done is gotten us lost," Rouge replied, glaring back, "Do you have any idea how sick I am of seeing this same wall everywhere we turn?"

"It's no picnic for me, either," Shadow said, "and what the hell else am I supposed to do? Sit around and wait for someone to pick us up?"

"Desist at once," Omega droned desperately, "I insist you stop."

"We wouldn't even be in this mess if you hadn't agreed to come on this mission," Rouge accused, "For once, you couldn't have said no?"

"As a matter of fact, I couldn't," responded Shadow, his temper climbing.

"I was exhausted, and I could be home sleeping right now!" Rouge yelled. Her face was becoming a bright pink as she spoke. "But Mr. Ultimate Life Form can't possibly miss a mission! Now I doomed to die of starvation in this death trap! Or it'll just cave in!"

"I will implore you this time," Omega said, interfering, "please do not go any further."

Shadow and Rouge were nose-to-nose now, both baring their teeth.

"Maybe I'll leave you here, then," Shadow said, "so you _can_ starve to death!"

"You know you couldn't leave me!"

"Try me," Shadow sneered, gritting his teeth, "every damn word you've spoken on this mission has been nothing but pure negativity. Perhaps if you changed your attitude you'd think differently."

"Who are you, my father?! Don't lecture me; I'm not a little kid!"

"I can and I will. I'll do whatever I damn well please!"

"Ha! Then you have my permission to leave me! Leave me here and I'll sit here and slowly and painfully die! Not like it would have been any different if we continued anyway!"

"_Stop talking like that!_"

"No! I'll do whatever _I _damn well please!"

Something snapped in Shadow. Suddenly Rouge was an enemy; a foe. He hated her with all of his mind and heart. His face was hot, and his breath short. The hedgehog barely felt his hand swing around in a quick motion, his fingers curling into a fist. The fist struck the bat's cheek before Shadow could control himself. Rouge staggered backwards with her mouth agape.

"You . . ." she breathed, at a loss for words. "You _bastard_."


	8. Warning Signs

**A/N: Apologies for the fact that the chapters might be shrinking. :/ They shouldn't get any shorter than this, though. Again, sorry about that! **

* * *

Shadow's breath was heavy. His fist was frozen in the air, left with a tingling feeling inside the glove. Rouge still stood, rubbing her cheek with her hand.

"You hit me," she uttered. Obviously the very thought was still processing in her mind. It was unclear whether she was disgusted or in shock. Or both.

Shadow didn't reply right away, but he immediately withdrew his hand and turned his gaze to the ground.

"I didn't mean it," he said softly, partially sincere, "I'm sorry."

Rouge pressed her cheek with careful fingers. The skin began to turn red as the blood rushed to it.

"Sure you are," she snorted, "I'll bet it felt good. Good to finally try to bruise me up after all this time."

"That isn't true," Shadow muttered at barely a whisper.

"Stop. Do not make me hit you both." Omega couldn't get another word in edgewise. At this point, his efforts were far from helpful.

"It must have felt so great to have caused me pain, huh?"

"Enough, Rouge. Let's drop it and get out of here." Shadow headed for the small chamber's entrance, unable to bring himself to look Rouge in the eyes. The bat just chuckled bitterly.

"You must feel pretty pleased with yourself, huh, bigshot?"

"I said _enough_."

"You really think I'm going to drop the subject?"

Shadow hadn't considered this. Rouge definitely wasn't going to drop it until he bought her the equivalent of all the world's jewels. She wouldn't have let go even then unless Shadow outright threatened her, and it would take a lot to make Rouge the bat feel the slightest bit intimidated. Shadow slowly rotated his neck to face her. He stared at the spot on her cheek and the bandaged gash on her head. In the midst of his trance, Rouge raised her voice.

"What are you looking at?"

Shadow broke from his daze.

"Nothing," he mumbled. "Let's go."

As he turned, the hedgehog promptly felt a blow land on his head, and it wasn't a soft one, either, as it knocked him forward a little. He froze in his rage, eyes wide and teeth exposed through tense lips. Rouge stood behind him, her green eyes wild.

Omega urgently shoved them apart, getting between the two for the umpteenth time.

"Physical violence is from hereon forbidden," he warned, "I'll give you both one more chance before I take control of the situation myself."

The other two barely heard him. Shadow spun around and swiftly yanked open Omega's control panel, switching him to hibernation mode. The red eyes dimmed down until they were no longer shining.

"Sorry, big guy," Shadow muttered, "I've got business to settle." He then turned to Rouge, fire returning to his gaze. "You asked for it, you little shrew with wings," Shadow challenged, tossing aside Omega's metal body with little effort.

"Never said I didn't," Rouge countered, cracking her knuckles, "let's settle this like real men, huh?"

Shadow snarled and began circling like a hawk; his opponent doing the same. The two locked eyes for a few moments, harnessing their anger, their rage for the other. Hatred flared in both pairs of eyes. After a few long moments, Rouge launched herself at Shadow with a closed fist rocketing towards his face. The hedgehog dodged and swung his own fist at her side, missing by one, maybe two inches.

Rouge struck Shadow's face with a worn-down high-heeled boot. She laughed triumphantly when he fell to the ground.

"Not so tough without your Chaos Control, are ya?" she sneered as Shadow rose back to his feet. Wordlessly, he brought another fist to her face, hitting her square in the cheek right before she had attempted to dodge. Kicks and punches continued to cloud the air, brutally snipping the thread of patience that was left between the two teammates. Cries of effort rang through the empty tunnel as both of the opponents only saw red. Both had the intention of inflicting severe bodily harm on their teammate, and when Team Dark's mind was made up, it seldom changed.

Shadow flung out his wrist in an uppercut motion to Rouge's nose. Her head flew backward on impact and blood began dripping from her nose. Shaking it off, the bat countered with a corkscrew attack, knocking back the dark hedgehog. Sweat dripped from both of their faces as they paused for a split second. When they locked eyes again, there was only hatred seething in their expressions. Rouge's eyes were teary from the pain of her bloody nose, and Shadow's eyes were wide with general fury. They angrily lunged for each other again.

After a few minutes, Rouge had Shadow pinned to the wall by his upper arms.

"You'll be happy to know that I'm not the bloodthirsty killer that you are," she growled as she fought against Shadow's struggling, "I'm more merciful."

Shadow saw more red. He broke free of the bat's hands and slapped at her cheek with the back of his hand. Rouge sprung into action by flying into the air and charging at him in another corkscrew attack. Shadow dodged and swung himself in a motion that knocked Rouge to the ground. He took her arms and held her down by her shoulders.

"Happy to hear that," he said in reply to her previous comment, "I suppose I'll kill you first, then."

"You wouldn't dare," Rouge said through bared teeth.

"Wouldn't I?" Shadow smiled. It was a deadly thing to see a twisted grin on a dangerously angry hedgehog. Rouge understood the danger and jammed both of her knees into Shadow's stomach, knocking the air out of him for only a brief moment.

"I thought you changed," the bat commented, hoping to contradict her statement, "you're not like that!"

Shadow gritted his teeth. Rouge was looking at him with a wide-eyed expression, and she was backing away slightly. Shadow caught the hint of fear and let a grin of satisfaction spread across his face. Could it be . . . she was afraid for her life?

"Who said?" he whispered, "Who said I can't be the bloodthirsty killer I was made to be?"

With those words, Shadow slammed Rouge's neck against the far wall of the chamber. He only saw a face that he despised. He hated no one more than Rouge in that moment of chaos; of insanity.

Rouge pursed her lips and choked. Shadow's grip tightened on her neck, but she was audacious enough to take it one step further.

"Maria . . ." she gagged, " . . . must be happy . . . to be dead."

Shadow's eyes grew and he loosened his grip.

"What . . . the hell . . . did you just . . . say?" he closed his fingers more around the bat's neck with every word.

"She . . . doesn't have to see you . . . like the weapon you are!" Rouge choked out, "You've disappointed her!"

Shadow saw Rouge's bloodstained face get redder, but only through blurry vision. His fingers closed tighter, tighter still, with every word processing in his mind. Such a line should not have been crossed, and only Rouge was bold enough to take that step over the line. Shadow's hands shook with psychotic anger, his intention moving from severe bodily harm to something even worse.

Rouge's face began to go from deep red to purple. She gasped, or attempted to gasp, for the slightest bit of air. Shadow's fingers were strong, and they weren't moving at all.

"You're dead to me," he whispered furiously, his voice raising to a scream, "I hope your body burns in hell with your damned soul!"

The hedgehog threw her to the ground and grabbed her by the neck again, hoping to choke every last bit of life from her. Rouge shut her eyes and stopped resisting his violence. She gritted her teeth and felt Shadow's wrath surging through her body. Just as Shadow's fingers were closing more and more around her throat and he smiled sadistically again, something struck him from behind. His eyes rolled back into his head from the blow. Rouge saw her opportunity to escape his death grip, so she scrambled to the back wall and watched as Shadow collapsed to the stony ground. Behind him was the metal figure of Omega, his claw suspended in midair above Shadow's unconscious body.

Rouge said nothing as Omega lowered his claw and stared at Shadow's trembling body. He then looked at Rouge, who could barely move from the shock. She breathed erratically, and blood still dripped from various cuts on her face and chest. Rouge's eyes watered; she clutched her neck, her mind fathoming what could have happened had Omega remained asleep. She was, for once in her life, shaken.

Sensing the imminent faintness, Omega hurried to the bat's side and caught her as she slowly dwindled to the ground. With a shaky breath and faint voice, she whispered one thing.

"Th-thanks, buddy . . ."

And with that, Rouge felt blackness clouding her mind and passed out in Omega's heavy arms.


	9. Breaking the Fall

**A/N: My apologies to anyone who may have been a bit freaked out by the previous chapter. This one should be a little softer, for the most part.**

* * *

Omega hurried back and forth between Shadow and Rouge, both of whom were still unconscious. They'd been out cold for almost two hours after their brutal fight, yet Omega attempted to nurse them back to health with whatever he could use. He bandaged their cuts, did quick x-ray scans to check for any broken bones(Rouge had a slight fracture on her wrist, but it was nothing major), and cleansed the wounds. The robot kept going over in his memory how much he'd warned the two to stop their arguing; and the amount of times he'd gotten between them seemed countless. And not only did he understand how much damage both teammates could cause to each other, he also recalled that it was his duty to protect them both, even if it was from each other.

Omega was concerned for his teammates. He didn't know how they were going to act once they woke up, and he could only hope that they wouldn't attempt to beat each other up again. Or worse, in Shadow's case. The robot scurried over to Rouge as he heard her moans of pain and her head began to move. Gently, he lifted her head and held a water bottle at the ready for her to drink from.

"My God . . ." she groaned, "The nightmares I've had lately . . ." The bat looked at her hands, which were still shaking. She then gazed into Omega's somehow sympathetic red eyes and realized that he was holding her head. The bat frowned. "Omega, what are you doing?"

"Drink this," he said, showing her the water bottle, "I've come to the conclusion that you are dehydrated."

Rouge, though she was numb from the pain, slowly took the water and drank it greedily without hesitation. The drink eased her dry throat as it traveled through her mouth. She cleared her throat a few times and then sat herself up.

"Oh, God, my back . . ."

Omega took the bottled water back and capped it. He watched as his companion stretched her back, arms, and wings out. For once, she was uncharacteristically quiet. After yawning and stretching, Rouge's eyes wandered around the cavern's small chamber. It was then when she remembered what had happened before she'd passed out. Small bloodstains spotted the walls and floor, and in the other corner of the room was Shadow, still knocked out. Omega glanced over at him as well, hoping he wouldn't wake up yet.

Rouge's eyes became watery again. The blue-green eyes swam in small pools of tears.

"I . . . I said some pretty awful things, didn't I?" she whispered faintly. Omega lowered his head sullenly.

"I imagine that, in the midst of the chaos, you and the Shadow creature encountered some form of mental instability," he said in reply. "Some things that were said were not sincere."

"What if they were, though?" Rouge pondered aloud, her voice still at a whisper, "Why can't I go through one of these missions without being a snob about them? It . . . it's my own fault."

The bat buried her face in her hands, ashamed that tears were falling from her eyes. Her face became red with embarrassment. Omega, for one, didn't know how to respond. He patted her shoulder and watched as Rouge—for the first time in a long while—showed such emotion. She sniffled, her breath was erratic, and she tried to keep the tears from flowing, though unsuccessfully.

"Damn it," she sobbed quietly, "Just damn it all."

The robot sat next to her and stared, unblinking, at the rocky ground. It was never a good thing when Rouge cried, especially since it was an extremely rare occurrence.

The robot stood up suddenly as he saw Shadow starting to stir. Defensively, he got in front of Rouge and kept a watchful eye on the hedgehog.

Shadow rubbed his face, and became mildly startled when his hands brushed over the bandaged spots on his forehead and chin.

"What the-" the hedgehog laid there, dazed and confused for a moment. He suddenly felt dizzy; his head started to spin. The ceiling of the chamber became blurry, and then everything became clear again. After blinking a few times, Shadow rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up. The figure of Omega came into focus as the robot walked towards him. "Sweet Mobius . . ." the hedgehog moaned.

Omega did another quick scan of Shadow. The sensors picked up a sort of mental stimulation going on in the hedgehog's mind.

"It appears your mental health is being treated on its own, much like your physical wounds," Omega remarked, "Your mind is healing itself. You may be feeling slight dizziness or blurry vision."

Shadow blinked again, and shook his head.

"Ugh . . ." he groaned, "I . . . thanks." The hedgehog felt dizzy again, and zoned out for a moment. Then, he brought his gaze to Rouge, whose eyes widened when they met the groggy hedgehog's. Upon closer inspection, Shadow realized that her eyes were reddened, as was her face. Rouge had been crying. He gulped, suddenly feeling a wave of memories flooding his mind.

_You're dead to me,_ his memories played back. _I hope your body burns in hell with your damned soul!_

Shadow squeezed his eyes shut and covered them with one hand. Another dizzy spell hit him as his sanity returned to him slowly. As he recalled his actions, Shadow's stomach ached with guilt. He'd killed before, but he'd never lost it so much as to attempt such a thing on his closest friend. His whole body trembled as he realized what could have happened.

"I . . ." he uttered. He couldn't manage to find any other words. The hedgehog looked back at Rouge, who tensed up upon locking eyes. She kept looking into them, searching, until Shadow tore his gaze from her. The hedgehog bit his bottom lip. "Omega, how is she?"

"Rouge has a few minor injuries, but nothing serious."

Shadow toyed with a bandage on his wrist.

"H-how about her mind? Did I . . . did I traumatize her?"

The robot analyzed Rouge's mental state of being. "She's suffering a traumatic aftermath and shock," he rattled off, "I'm afraid her mental state won't heal as easily as yours. It may not at all."

Shadow gritted his teeth in his mouth and shut his eyes again. What had he done?

"Is she willing to speak to me?" he asked hopelessly.

"I will check. Do not try anything with my back turned," Omega warned, "I will take unfortunate but necessary procedures again."

Nodding sincerely, Shadow watched as Omega went to Rouge.

"He is requesting that you speak to him," the robot said to his teammate.

Rouge pursed her lips and chewed the inside of her cheek nervously.

"H-how is he doing-"-she made a motion indicating her head- "-up here?"

"His mental health is being restored as we speak," Omega said, "it is as his physical wounds; somehow there is activity within his mind causing her sanity to return."

Rouge frowned and reluctantly considered talking to her teammate. When she said nothing for another minute, Omega went back to Shadow.

"She is thinking about it," he said solemnly, "If I'm correct, her trust in you may be dwindling."

"Oh, that's helpful," Shadow snapped. The tiny and insignificant outburst alarmed Omega, so as a reaction, he menacingly brought his large metal body closer to the hedgehog's. Unfazed, Shadow struggled to figure out what to say. "T-tell her . . ." Something told Shadow that a single apology wouldn't be nearly enough to make up for his actions. At this point, nothing seemed to. Rouge's trust, when broken once, would take far too long to restore. Omega stood still, waiting for a message to give to the bat. Shadow just stared at the ground with an overwhelming amount of shame clouding his mind. "I never meant what I said," he mumbled, "I don't know what I was thinking."

"Shall I tell her this?" Omega replied. Shadow shook his head.

"There's no way she'll accept any apology," he whispered, "No freaking way. I can't imagine what else I could do to . . . to . . ."

Shadow looked into Omega's eyes. He didn't care what he said anymore. He clenched a fist, angry with himself.

"I'll leave," he decided suddenly, "I'll live in this cave by myself. You two ought to find your way out. I don't deserve to show my face anywhere else."

Omega shook his head with a strange grinding sound coming from his neck joints.

"Do not make such rash decisions," the robot said, "We are a team."

"A team that's now broken because of me," Shadow grumbled.

"But a team nevertheless," Omega insisted, becoming—oddly enough for him—worried. "We must stay together."

"I almost killed her, Omega," Shadow blurted, "She could've died at my hands!"

"_Do not_ raise your voice," the robot replied instantly, "I understand your remorse at present, but I forbid you from leaving. No matter how bitter you two meat-bags are, I will forbid you both from fleeing from one another. You will resolve this, and we will escape this cave in one piece. Am I clear?"

Shadow smiled slightly and stared at his metal colleague, who stared right back at him. The hedgehog chuckled.

"Do I sense a hint of worry?" he inquired, teasing the robot. Omega lowered his head threateningly.

"_Am I clear?_" he repeated, this time more slowly. Shadow's face returned to a neutral expression, and he pursed his lips.

"Yes, sir."

Shadow threw another glance at Rouge, who was trembling slightly, as though she were crying again. No doubt the images from the fight had overwhelmed her mind again and continued to haunt her. Shadow turned away. What could he do? What would he say?

"I would suggest for you to make her feel better somehow," Omega said, "I am afraid I cannot console her as well as you may be able to."

Shadow nodded.

"Guess I have no other choice," he sighed.

The hedgehog watched as Omega went back to Rouge to tell her what was going to happen. Shadow felt his legs become heavy as he tried to stand up. Suddenly a lump formed in his throat. He attempted to push it back by swallowing, but it refused to return. Any type of consolation he came up with was nothing but a pathetic apology; all of them became scrapped ideas. After another moment, he decided to just wing it. And if he did happen to snap again, he had Omega right there to knock him out.

Once he finally gained the courage to face his teammate, Shadow approached the sorrowful bat and sat down next to her. Understandably, the bat scooted a few feet away, just to be cautious. Shadow pursed his lips and said nothing for a moment. Both of them stared intently at the cold stone floor.

"Rouge . . ." Shadow started, playing nervously with his fingers, "I . . . there's something I need to tell you."

Rouge's ear twitched, showing a tiny spark of interest. Shadow cleared his throat and felt his face getting hot as he prepared himself to speak.

Before Shadow had the chance to open his mouth, a low tremor slightly shook the cave, rapidly turning into a booming rumble. Shadow stood up and nearly lost his footing. The stalactites on the ceiling shook dangerously, threatening to fall. Small pieces of rocks began to rain from the chamber's ceiling.

Rouge was frozen like a deer in headlights. She stared at the formations above her that were shaking faster. A tornado of emotions swirled around her head, and she didn't know how to react to them. In her daze, she could just barely make out Shadow's voice.

"Rouge!" he called, "Rouge, come on! Are you crazy?!" The hedgehog looked at Rouge, who still stood motionless, gazing at the rocks that came raining down. Shadow felt that, if he tried to move her, she'd resist. Frantically, he yelled at Omega to leave the chamber so he could stay and bring Rouge out as well. The robot hesitated, but scurried outside of the chamber once a small cascade of rocks poured over his head.

A large stalactite cracked near the top and plummeted down—right above the stunned bat's head. Before he knew what he was doing, Shadow threw his full body weight at Rouge, sending her reeling the other way. Rouge snapped out of her daze as she landed on the ground and whirled around.

"Shadow!" she called, her voice hoarse. The hedgehog lay sprawled out, struggling under the weight of the rock formation. Upon hearing no answer, the bat rushed to his side and began attempting to move the stubborn rock. Her fractured wrist burned, the pain intensifying with every muscle she exhausted in order to save her friend. More rocks rained down over her head and littered the ground.

Omega, after waiting at the entrance of the chamber and nearly being crushed himself, peered inside to see what was going on. Rouge was attempting to move a rather thick icicle-like rock. The robot immediately understood why when he couldn't locate Shadow in the cavern, so he went to Rouge and, with ease, lifted the stalactite up. Shadow, eternally grateful though not showing it, stood up and walked a step or two before slowly tipping over.

More deafening cracks rang through the air, signaling the imminent collapse of the rest of the stalactites. Omega slung Shadow over his shoulder and led Rouge out of the cavern, holding her arm. They jumped clear just as the little chamber was reduced to a pile of dust and rocks with a crash. All at once, the rumbling stopped and, save for a layer of newly-fallen rocks, the cave remained somewhat intact.

"We gotta get out of here," came a low voice from a weakened yet still strong hedgehog, "Whether you trust me or not, Rouge, we'll make it outta here."

Shadow limply fell against Omega's back, his muscles aching. Rouge bit the inside of her cheek and sat down on a nearby rock.

"We'll wait for him to wake up," she mumbled to Omega, who gently placed the hedgehog down, "He's right—there's no sense arguing when we should be finding our way out."

Omega nodded in agreement.

"Once the Shadow creature awakens, we shall continue our search for an exit from this place."

The bat suddenly became dizzy and rubbed the dust from her eyes. Now that Shadow had both attempted to kill her and saved her life in the same day, it was hard to express how she was feeling.


	10. Decline

**A/N: Hey, all. My apologies for not updating last week-I was away and was therefore unable to post this chapter. So I'm really sorry if I left you all hanging like that. :S Also, this chapter will be a long one. I apologize again for my disorganization. **

* * *

Above ground, the forest remained as green and lush as before. A fresh rain had just soaked the leaves and exotic flowers that scattered across the floor of the forest. Above the cavern's entrance was a smoking, wrecked mass that once was Eggman's newest Egg Carrier. The ground beneath it was cracked and crumbling under the weight of the precariously placed vehicle.

Suddenly, the Egg Carrier's weight shifted. The starboard side leaned to the right more, threatening to tumble on its side down the slope that was raised above Mystic Cave.

"Soniiiiiiic!"

The voice was cracked and high-pitched, full of desperation.

"Sonic, where are you?!"

Fur matted and limbs bleeding, Tails emerged from a cloud of smoke billowing from the Egg Carrier's right wing and collapsed to the ground in a heap, his breathing irregular and shaky. Tears formed in his eyes as he fathomed the unfathomable fate of his big brother.

"Please . . ." The little fox pleaded with no one, praying for a miracle. He wondered how he'd even survived the crash in one piece, let alone at all. Tails let out little sobs as he rose and limped away from the wreckage as it creaked more. His lips and voice quavered every time he spoke. "Anyone, please, help . . ."

When he was a good distance away from the smoldering Egg Carrier, Tails threw his battered fists against a mossy rock, attempting to convince himself that everything would be fine. Sonic wasn't dead, he just _wasn't_. There must have been some way that he got out. Of course . . . wouldn't he have been around to save his best friend; his little brother?

Tails stifled another sob and ignored the throbbing pain in his hands. He covered his face with his fingers and blinked the stinging tears back.

"Sonic . . ." he whispered, hoping to hear the sound of a rushing spin dash behind him, or the fearless and confident big-brotherly voice to console him and tell him everything was going to be a-ok. But the little fox heard nothing except the various bird sounds and his own shaky breathing.

Tails' ears twitched excitedly when there was the sound of rustling greenery behind him.

"Sonic?" he mumbled hopefully, his head whirling around to see what was there.

"Well, sorta . . ." replied a deep and grim voice. "You okay, buddy?"

Knuckles wrestled with the leaves of the wild bushes until he broke through them. Tails gasped faintly as his eyes moved to the bloodstained blue mass in the strong echidna's arms. Noticing the terror in the fox's bright blue eyes, Knuckles sighed.

"Don't worry. He's still alive and breathing—just unconscious. We'll just need to get him back to safety and seek out some medical attention."

Tails, as any child would be, was speechless. He pressed his lips together in order to hold back more sobs, but this time they broke through with little effort. Knuckles shook his head.

"Eggman really must have lost it this time," he muttered. "That was quite a risk he took."

"Did you find him at all?" Tails whimpered, his voice breaking.

"No . . . not a sign of him," Knuckles whispered. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open in realization. "What happened to Team Dark?"

Tails looked around, as did Knuckles. They called the names of the members, imagining wild and horrible theories of what could have happened to them.

"Shadow!"

"Rouge!"

"Omega!"

No response came. Knuckles grumbled and set down Sonic to throw his fist at the ground angrily.

"Damn it, Eggman, what did you do?!" he screamed. Tails, still shaken, moved close to Sonic and checked his vitals. Still breathing . . . pulse pumping . . . yes, he was definitely still alive.

"Knuckles," Tails called as Knuckles hurled curses from his mouth, "What should we do?"

The echidna stopped his swearing and panted. He tasted a droplet of sweat as it fell into his mouth.

"We gotta find them," he growled, "even if they're all under that wreckage. We should leave no hedgehog, robot, or bat behind, whether they're alive or-" Knuckles stopped himself there. He couldn't even bring himself to think that Team Dark was dead. Two were basically immortal, but the other one . . .

"Call someone," he said suddenly, "you take Sonic back to Amy's or something. We'll form a search party." The echidna set his jaw, determined. Softly, he added: "We gotta find her."

Tails raised his eyebrows.

"Them." Knuckles corrected himself. "After we take Sonic back, I'm going to look. We have to be careful flying him around; he's got some pretty serious injuries. God only knows how he got them."

"I'm not ready to find out," Tails said, shuddering as he gingerly scooped up Sonic and tried to put him over his shoulder. Knuckles helped the little fox to carefully hold the blue blur in his arms and they both flew off, in order to get Sonic to safety. As they disappeared into the distance, the destroyed Egg Carrier shifted its weight again, cracking the rocky ground beneath it even more until a deep crack formed underneath it. As many clichéd lines go, time was wearing thin.

* * *

Even as the cave's ceiling started crumbling again, Rouge was quiet. And not even in the good way—she was deathly silent as the team moved forward through the cavern. Shadow had regained his consciousness and decided on finding the exit of the cave, and since then, Rouge hadn't said a single word.

The Team wove through narrower passageways and crossed over dangerous bridges laced with greenery. The vegetation was beginning to grow thicker as they ventured on—thick enough for Shadow to think back to those jungle adventure movies where the main hero needs a rather long knife to slice a path through the plants.

"Omega, did we happen to bring some kind of sword?" he asked nonchalantly, mostly thinking aloud.

"Now is not the time for fencing, Shadow creature," the robot replied coolly, "I would win in a heartbeat nonetheless."

Shadow smirked at the robot's sarcasm.

"I mean to cut down these plants," he explained.

"I will move to the front and take over that responsibility, Shadow," Omega said, stomping his way towards the front of the line that the team had formed. His metal hand retracted into his arm and a long pair of hedge-clippers replaced it.

Shadow raised an eyebrow.

"How long have you had those installed?"

"For fifty years," was the dry response. Shadow knocked on the robot's back to get his attention as he snipped through a thick leaf with ease. "Yes?"

"Big guy, are you . . . feeling all right?"

"Never better," Omega droned, continuing to slice through the vegetation, "I happen to be the most content robot in the world."

"You certainly aren't acting the part," Shadow mumbled, "We should all take a breather."

"I am the most powerful of the E-Series robots; I require no such-"

"Just sit down and go into hibernation," Shadow scolded, recognizing the familiar "I am the most powerful" speech that seemed to be locked into E-123's memory.

Omega didn't sit down, but he did go into hibernation mode. Once he had shut down, Shadow sat down against the wall and put his hands behind his head in a relaxed position.

"Something in him is definitely malfunctioning," Shadow said.

"Helpful," Rouge snapped, sounding much like her old self, "'Something is malfunctioning'."

"She speaks," Shadow replied indifferently.

"I'm not going to check Omega's panel until you move back further."

Though his eyes were closed, Shadow's eyebrows contorted themselves in a way that indicated shock, then awareness.

"I understand," he said suddenly, unable to help sounding a little bitter, "I get why you don't want me near you. But we're a team."

"For now, we are," Rouge said, "but once we get out of this cave, I think I'll quit my job at G.U.N."

Rouge stepped over to Omega as Shadow took a few paces back. She opened up the panel and began fiddling around with the wires.

"Look, I know I upset you, Rouge. But we've gotta stick together. Omega would be devastated if you left."

No reply. Shadow gritted his teeth.

"Rouge, you're the one who formed this group. Do you not remember? You wanted everyone working together. As a team."

"I'm also the one who got you angry to the point of murderous," she retorted after a moment of thought.

"That's besides the point, Rouge. We're moving forward, not thinking about things that have already happened."

"And I suppose my trauma is being left behind as well? It's not that easy for a mortal like me."

The hedgehog bit his lip.

"You have to understand, Rouge. We . . ." Shadow shuffled his feet and swallowed, ". . . we need you. No matter what happens, we need you as much as we need Omega."

Rouge didn't bat an eyelid as she closed up Omega's back panel, perhaps a little harder than need be.

"Ha! The Ultimate Life Form and the Ultimate E-Series robot need me? A little old jewel thief?"

Shadow shook his head.

"You said you wouldn't leave us," he reminded her quietly.

"I'm the one who wouldn't shut up for this entire trip. I couldn't stop complaining, and now look at us! The entire cave is collapsing on top of our heads!"

Shadow eyed Rouge with an odd look. Her train of thought had started to get lost on the tracks, and some pieces of the rails were missing.

"Please, just . . . not another word." Rouge held up her pointer finger and immediately looked away from the black hedgehog. She sniffled slightly.

"You have to stop putting yourself down . . ." Shadow whispered, reaching for his friend. He wanted nothing more right now than to be able to console. To be sensitive. To have feelings, for Mobius' sake. For once. Rouge pulled away as he reached for her.

"Not another word," she repeated, tears in her eyes. "I don't want you to touch me."

Shadow pursed his lips and suddenly felt irritated. He pushed back the feeling as best he could and lowered his outstretched hand.

"I want you to know that you can trust me," the hedgehog said with a low voice, "even if it costs me an arm and a leg to get you to believe it." With that, he turned towards Omega. "Now, what did you find in him that was wrong?"

"Uh . . ." Rouge fiddled with her hair, running her fingers through it as though she were brushing it. "The thingy isn't attached to the . . . the thing."

Shadow's mouth hung open slightly. Rouge stood there, drawing circles on the ground with her shoe.

"Helpful," he hissed, "Do you want Omega's software and memory to rot?"

"N-no, I don't. I forget what those cables are called, is all."

Shadow looked closer at the panel and found that one cable was dangling loose when it should have been plugged in to another one.

"The anti-malware cable isn't plugged into his main system . . ."

Rouge nodded, though her eyes showed the faintest hint of confusion.

"Come again?"

"Rouge, he's developing viruses in his software because these two wires weren't plugged in."

Rouge scoffed.

"Omega can't get the stomach flu, he's a robot."

"Wh—don't play around, Rouge, now is not the time."

"I'm dead serious."

Shadow was beyond words at this point. The emphasis on the word "dead" made Shadow wince, though he couldn't figure out why. He plugged the virus protection cable back in and flipped the robot back on. Once he'd powered up, Shadow shut the back panel and took a step back.

"Omega, could you please scan Rouge's mind again?"

Rouge jumped back in alarm as Omega stared into her soul with his red eyes. After a series of calculations, Omega pulled Shadow aside.

"She has developed post-traumatic stress disorder," the robot calculated, "And, if I'm not mistaken, a lingering case of schizophrenia. Delusions and hallucinations may ensue immediately. I suggest we tread with caution as we venture out of this cave."

Shadow put his hand over his eyes. Rouge was, in a sense, fading away.

"I should have guessed," he growled, "and there's no way to help her?"

"Negative. Not with the resources here. The trauma has also caused some slight memory loss."

"I noticed."

"We must seek out medical help as we return."

Shadow was about to reply, when suddenly Rouge's face appeared next to his. He yelped in surprised and jumped back.

"Holy—you scared the-"

"Sorry," Rouge said, "I just thought I overheard that I've lost something."

Shadow stared into her eyes. The teal jewels that glittered in the large white spheres revealed a sense of innocence; of curiosity and madness. The spark of aggression and fearlessness was no longer there. Shadow broke his gaze and opened his mouth to attempt to tell Rouge what was happening.

Rouge held up her hand, having other thoughts.

"Say no more. I lost the diamond from the Mobian Museum of History in Central City. Been looking for it for a long time now."

Shadow was now taken aback.

". . . What?" he questioned softly, not in a dangerous tone, but one of concern.

"My diamond," the bat replied with all seriousness, "Thanks for offering to help me find it, but I think I can handle this myself."

Shadow had no words.

"Diamonds are a girl's best friend . . ." Rouge sang with wild eyes, "Oh, she and I were friends. No one could separate us." Her head suddenly snapped up. "Do you hear . . . bells?"

Shadow shook his head and gave Rouge the longest and most sympathetic look he ever had. He had seen her sugar-high before, but this . . . this was ridiculous . . . and extremely alarming.

"They're pretty close," Rouge said, "maybe if we follow them they'll lead us to the light!"

Shadow pursed his lips. He couldn't speak anymore. His throat had gone numb as words he wished to say were stuck in it, but would have been wasted on Rouge's mind.

"At the end of the tunnel! Outta here . . ."

Omega tried to calm her extreme excitement and began to attempt reasoning with her broken mind—not an easy task for a robot. Shadow, though he would have been better for the job, sat down and buried his face in his hands. Somehow, he couldn't help but bare his teeth at the ground a curl his fists in frustration. A sickening feeling of guilt overpowered the rest of his emotions, causing his hands and stomach to violently tremble. If only he'd been able to control his anger that day.

_Damn it all,_ he thought as Rouge's incessant babbling continued behind him,_ just damn it._


	11. Cry for Help

**A/N: For those of you who saw this story being announced on my profile, remember that tiiiiiiiny bit of Shadouge I mentioned? Well, keep an eye out for it. (I'm looking at you, dear friend of mine . . . you know who you are. ;) ) Also, since I know many people are probably getting ready for school, updates might be more frequent from this point on. Maybe. All righty, carry on! Special thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing thus far-you guys are awesome! :) **

* * *

"Explain to me again why we're out here," came a reluctant grumble from the green hawk, "I didn't catch it all."

Knuckles whirled around angrily and seized Jet's shoulders, frustrated by everything that had taken place, including the hawk's lack of awareness of the situation.

"We . . . are looking . . . for . . . Team . . . Dark!" Knuckles slowly and loudly recounted, "I won't explain everything again!"

"Hard to tell when you're always yelling," Jet mumbled, just loud enough for Knuckles to hear as he released the hawk's shoulders from his fists.

"Hey, cut it out, you two!" Silver scolded, getting between the two of them, "We're not here to battle!"

"The hedgehog has a point," muttered Espio, who was just as irritated as Knuckles, "this is too serious a case for us to be arguing. Is this where you wanted to take us, Knuckles?"

Knuckles broke his searing stare from Jet's eyes and looked in the direction where Espio was pointing. The Egg Carrier sat even more precariously on the mound of grassy rock, still creaking and smoking. Vector's eyes widened in awe of the wreckage.

"Good thing it hasn't exploded y—mmf!"

Espio clamped his hand over Vector's snout, pinching his jaws together.

"Don't even think about it," the chameleon hissed, "You know what kinds of things happen when you open your big mouth."

Vector's eye roll came complete with a muffled sigh of exasperation.

Knuckles stepped towards the Egg Carrier, and then turned to look at the mediocre search party he'd scraped together. They weren't much, but there weren't many others who could aid him in the search. At least, not the girls and younger ones, who were watching over and taking care of Sonic. The group looked back at him, eager and anxious.

"I don't know what we'll find," Knuckles started uneasily, "We don't know what happened to anyone who was involved in this crash besides Tails, myself, and Sonic. So, uh . . . don't be too surprised if you see something . . ." his voice trailed off as he tried to find the right words.

"Unpleasant?" Silver chimed, hoping to help.

"Yeah," Knuckles replied. "But let us know if you do. So, look around, and try not to touch anything unless it'll help someone get out from underneath a fallen piece or something."

With that, everyone broke up and began to scour the area for a sign of someone familiar. They started around the outside of the Egg Carrier, peering through bushes in case anyone had been flung out of the vehicle.

Espio, being the careful reptile he was, tiptoed gracefully along the side of the mound and checked through cracked windows and in the nooks and crannies of the outer shell of the Egg Carrier. While he squinted through a shattered window, his foot gave out as he stepped at an angle on a rock. His shoe slipped out from underneath him, but the ninja's reflexes overtook him and he stretched out his arms behind him. Espio fell into a back walkover and skillfully flipped out of the way as a small avalanche followed him down the mound. Vector was the first to notice as the rocks slid down and came to a halt at Espio's feet.

"You okay, there?" the crocodile asked, looking over his companion for any sort of wound.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Espio responded, slightly short of breath.

Knuckles came running over, especially since he was particularly jumpy that day.

"What happened?" he inquired, a mixture of panic and excitement rising in his chest. "Did you find something?"

"Nothing of importance," replied the chameleon in a mumble, "I only noticed that there was a fair amount of blood on the walls inside there."

Knuckles relaxed a little, but gritted his teeth all the same.

"It was a rough struggle to get out," he growled, glancing at his bandaged forearm as he answered, "but thanks anyway for telling me. If you see anything else, please come to me."

"Roger."

The search party looked for another sign—anything-to find that someone was okay. They searched for two full hours, only finding scraps of metal, broken machinery spewing sparks, and insects making homes in the open spaces of the vehicle.

"Is there any possible way we can get inside?" Silver asked as the group gathered for a small break, "Maybe there's someone trapped in there."

"Just how are we gonna do that?" Jet barked, irritable, "The whole thing's probably going to tumble down on top of us if we touch it!"

"It's been shifting even without someone touching it," Espio pointed out, "Jet may have a point."

"Naturally," Jet muttered.

Silver's face fell, crestfallen.

"Well . . . Knuckles, do you have any ideas?"

Everyone looked hopefully at the one who'd organized the search party. He didn't dare bring his eyes up to their faces, so he continued to stare at the ground.

"Maybe we should try to dismantle it," he suggested. "Little by little, we might be able to take it apart. We'll need to balance it out just right, though."

Everyone gave the echidna blank looks.

"Any objections?" he asked quietly.

"That's a ridiculous idea!" Jet squawked, "The whole thing is practically defying the laws of physics as it is!"

Before he got a chance to finish what he was saying, Jet gasped along with everyone else. The metallic creaks grew louder and dust flew up from the bottom of the Egg Carrier as it started to shift again.

"Outta the way!" Knuckles cried, shoving along the search party, "Come over here! Hurry!"

Frantic yells ensued, but they were engulfed by the sound of the groaning metal of the Egg Carrier as it tipped over. Loud cracks filled the air, and the airship started to break the mound in half.

"Holy Mobius," breathed Silver as the group watched the ship, "Those cracks are huge."

No one replied, as they were all just as in awe as Silver. They watched, hopelessness bubbling in everyone's chests. Except Knuckles'. He gave the Egg Carrier the evil eye as though it were just another monster to battle.

"You haven't won yet, Eggman," he snarled under his breath.

* * *

Once again, Shadow found himself, Omega, and Rouge running for their lives through the endless tunnels of Mystic Cave. The deafening sound of walls and the ceiling crumbling echoed throughout every stony corridor. When the horrible tremors started again, the hedgehog's only concern was Rouge. The moment the ceiling began to drop rocks on Team Dark's heads, Rouge's eyes grew wide with horror, and she mumbled something about zombies attacking. Therefore, Shadow pulled her arm and decided to drag her along as they ran.

"Damn!" Shadow screamed as he screeched to a halt at a dead end. The rocks falling from the ceiling were beginning to get bigger. "Quick, over here!"

He pulled Rouge along again, and turned around to find that a pile of rocks was gathering at the entrance of the tunnel they'd just entered. With a yell of effort, he cried to Omega to help him move the rocks before they blocked off the entrance completely.

Rouge stood behind them, nervously pacing and putting her arms over her head to protect herself from the falling rocks. She had sense enough to look at the ground rather than up, and to stay put, until she thought the rumbling had stopped and she peeked at the ceiling.

Shadow stopped dead when he heard a cry break through the sounds of the tunnel falling apart.

"_Rouge!_" he roared, suddenly overwhelmed by adrenaline. "Omega, get these rocks out of the way!"

The hedgehog spun around to see three rocks menacingly piled on Rouge's legs, arm, and wings. She lay on the ground, unconscious.

Without hesitation, Shadow threw his body weight against each rock, battering himself up in the process. But he didn't care—now that Rouge was more vulnerable, she had to be protected. And he'd already failed in that.

Shadow managed to get every rock away from the bat, who woke up as the rumbling came to a complete stop. She bit her lip as she tried to get up.

"Don't move," Shadow mumbled, "Let me take a look at that."

Rouge's eyes were wild with an emotion that Shadow couldn't recognize. It was difficult to tear his own gaze from hers, but he did nonetheless and examined her wounds.

Something hit Shadow in that moment—a chill down his spine. It had been a while since he'd experienced a shiver overtaking his body, and seeing Rouge's injuries was the first time in years since he'd gotten that feeling. One arm appeared stuck to the ground, the skin flattened to the stone and blood oozing from long gashes on either side. It was obvious to tell where the bone had broken—a small but sharp white edge protruded from the skin, unprotected by flesh.

Rouge's legs weren't nearly as bad, being bruised and bloody, but nothing had been broken. The wings were a different story, however. Each one had been mangled; a twisted a bloody mess behind her. Shadow bit the inside of his lip.

"Medical supplies are running low," Omega informed him, "we may not have enough to heal her completely."

Shadow's lips twitched, as did his ears, until he got up and spat out a colorful array of curses. He cursed the cave, he cursed G.U.N., he cursed Eggman, and he cursed himself. Bitter anger filled his entire being.

Omega, knowing that Shadow's actions were not solving anything, immediately began to wrap Rouge's wounds and attempted to heal them using the last few drops of various ointments and telling her to swallow a few painkilling pills. Rouge remained completely quiet, once again thrust into a state of shock.

"You are no help," Omega said sharply to Shadow, who had just finished a violent fit of throwing his fists against the walls, "The least you could do is help me to place a bandage into place across her wounds."

Shadow panted, and then brought his blood-red eyes to Rouge. He'd never been so protective of her before; she never really needed protection from anything. She'd been so tough and gritty, until the one day he snapped. Everything went downhill, and now Rouge was vulnerable and weakened, unable to reason.. He clutched his thumbs in his fists and stepped towards the wide-eyed bat, who was breathing in heavy sobs. The hedgehog knelt down at her side. He could feel his lips quivering; another new sensation.

"Rouge . . ." he started off quietly. No response came. "Rouge, I'm . . ."

Omega stood up and watched Shadow intently, his own robotic heart beginning to soften. It wasn't very often one witnessed the hedgehog giving an apology. Pride was his first reaction to anything. And now . . . it seemed that was about to change.

"I'm sorry . . ." whispered Shadow, "I'm sorry for being a screw-up . . . and for traumatizing you."

Shadow searched the eyes for a sign of forgiveness, of acceptance. But all he could see was empty fear. Something distant. Clearly she wasn't present with him in that moment.

Omega gently pulled Rouge into a sitting position, holding her up as carefully as his giant fingers would allow him to. Shadow, still looking into the teal eyes, slipped his hand over Rouge's unbroken one. He lowered his head and gritted his teeth.

"I'm so sorry."

The moment caught him by surprise when the unbroken hand turned itself around and closed around Shadow's rough fingers.

* * *

"Data banks state we are reaching sea level," Omega calculated as they got back on their feet, "An exit cannot be too far off now."

"Good," Shadow said, "We're getting closer."

Rouge was limping, but she had insisted she was fine to walk, showing something a little more normal for her. Perhaps her mind was healing . . . maybe.

"I heard them again," she said, in an almost completely normal voice, "the bells. Do you think we're underneath a church?"

Shadow shook his head and decided to play along.

"I doubt it," he answered as he ripped a vine out of the way, "There's no churches in this jungle."

Rouge shrugged.

"There might be graveyards," she said, "Or just a few graves. "

Shadow winced at the mention of graveyards. Now was not the right time to discuss death, nor did he want to think about it. So he simply grunted in reply.

The Team crossed another dangerous-looking wooden bridge; Shadow led the way. Rouge limped across and nervously looked down below, where there was a 200-foot drop. She let out a small sound from her throat, but Omega scooted her along.

"There is no threat to worry about when I am behind you," he assured her, "Should you fall, I will catch you."

Rouge chuckled nervously as she stepped to the other side.

"Ahh . . ." she breathed, "Sturdy land."

"Not just yet," Shadow mumbled, his eyes distant and fixed. The red eyes were wide with awe, maybe even excitement, and his heart skipped a few beats in his chest. Omega looked in the same direction to see what the hedgehog was staring at.

From that direction, a tiny beam of light reflected off of Omega's metal body.


End file.
